


Wonder

by Rehearsal_Dweller



Series: The Lobster Quadrille [1]
Category: CP Coulter's Dalton - Fandom
Genre: F/M, M/M, Wonderland AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-05
Updated: 2014-11-21
Packaged: 2018-02-11 20:28:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 20,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2082057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rehearsal_Dweller/pseuds/Rehearsal_Dweller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>150 some years after Alice dropped in for tea, a boy called Kurt stumbled across Wonderland. There he met the White Rabbit and his band of rebels, and accidentally changed the course of their revolution.</p>
<p>(Although given Tweedle-induced shenanigans and the Rabbit’s apparent reluctance to personally approach Heart Palace, perhaps it’s not surprising that they haven’t accomplished much before.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Down the Rabbit-Hole

**Author's Note:**

> This is my big project for the thing, guys!  
> Obviously this was inspired by Dalton, which was written by the truly amazing CP Coulter. She's a dear, and also possibly evil. Come to your own conclusions on that; either way I love her. (Hi, dear!)  
> (also, it's based on a mess of a novella called Hatter, in case the storyline is vaguely familiar to you, but that's not important right now.)  
> Many thanks, of COURSE, to my darling beta Katherine!

A long time ago, a little girl stumbled across another world in her backyard.

You’ve probably heard her story; Alice is a pretty well known figure nowadays.

What most people don’t know is that it’s _true_.

One such person was a very practical boy named Kurt. He hadn’t believed in fairy tales and children’s stories for a very long time, having declared himself ‘properly grown up’ at the age of fourteen. That isn’t to say that he wasn’t a dreamer – he had dreams of performing on Broadway, after all – but the fact remained that he was much more grounded than some of his high school friends.

He’d been home from school two days before he was able to get out of the house long enough to take a trip to the cemetery, where his mother was buried. Ever since he’d been old enough to go on his own, he’d made a point of visiting frequently, especially after his father remarried. Not that he disliked Carole, but he wanted to stay connected to his own mom, thank you very much.

He’d brought a battered copy of _Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland_ , his mother’s favourite book, along with him.

“Where did I leave off last time?” Kurt asked as he sat down on the grass in front of his mother’s headstone. He flipped through the book, looking for the bookmark. “Here we go. Chapter Seven: a Mad Tea-Party. There was a table set out under a tree in front of the house…”

He always read a little bit when he visited. He didn’t pretend that it was for his mother’s sake; she was gone, he was not.

As he read, he noticed a curious sight: a very large, very out-of-place dormouse. Wearing a teeny little waistcoat.

Kurt blinked a few times, shaking his head a little bit. His imagination was certainly running wild today.

The dormouse didn’t disappear when Kurt tried to clear his head, though. It just tipped its head to the side and blinked at him a few times. Then it turned and took off, darting between headstones.

Without thinking, Kurt followed.

He chased the dormouse through the cemetery, but as he rounded a tree he realised he’d lost sight of it just before he started to fall.

\--

Reed hit the ground with more force than usual, changed, and took off running towards base.

He knew the boy was following after him, but for once he wasn’t afraid for the Flower. Oh no, he could see it in the boy’s eyes – this one was different.

He stumbled over a branch and nearly went flying, but was caught by two pairs of steady hands. He knew without looking up who had caught him.

“Where are you running, Dormouse?” one of the Tweedles asked while the other set Reed firmly back on his feet.

“Base,” Reed panted, “There’s a boy – a Flower – followed me down the Rabbit Hole. He’s still falling, but he’ll be at the Doors soon. I’ve got to report to Rabbit.”

“We’ll go wait for him at the Doors,” said the second Tweedle.

“You go report to Mr Grumpy-ears,” added the first.

“Is he really having that bad a day?” Reed asked, as if Rabbit had had a good day any time in the last eight years.

“Yes,” the twins reply in eerie unison, then they start off toward the Doors.

Reed sighed before moving in the direction of the base, more slowly now that he knew the Twins would be to the Doors in time to intercept the boy.

He caught the Hatter’s eye as he walked through the mess. The weary, worn-out look the Hatter gave him did not give Reed the warm-and-fuzzies about approaching Rabbit.

(Rabbit on a bad day – relatively speaking – was a daunting prospect. He had a truly remarkable sense of aim, even while drunk, and tended to take full advantage by throwing things when frustrated. It was off-putting for Reed, who’d known him back before the Rebellion, because back then he was one of the most level-headed of their friends by far. To this day, Reed really wasn’t sure what had happened.)

Reed took a deep breath as he approached Rabbit’s room, then tapped on the doorframe. “Bl- Rabbit? Rabbit, there’s something you’ve got to see.”

“What?” Rabbit replied.

“There’s a boy in the Doors,” Reed reported.

“ _What?_ ”

“The Doors. As in _the_ Doors,” repeated Reed. “A boy. Fell down the Rabbit Hole after me.”

“Like Alice?”

“Like Alice.”

“And you didn’t _wait_ for him?”

“Yes, Rabbit, I’m completely stupid,” Reed replied easily, rolling his eyes. “The Tweedles went to meet him.”

Rabbit picked up his coat and made to leave. “That’s not better.”

\--

Kurt kept falling, and falling, and falling, down past any number of strange things. He spotted a table set for tea, complete with a teapot that was pouring itself. A little further down, he tumbled past a bookshelf with books that were arranging and rearranging themselves.

The further Kurt fell, the more certain he was that he’d hit his head. He couldn’t say why he’d even gone running after that dormouse in the first place, but it was clearly a bad idea.

And then, suddenly, Kurt stopped falling. He hit the ground _hard_ , but not as hard as someone who’s spent that much time falling really ought to.

“Curious,” he said aloud.

He glanced up and saw a ceiling, with no sign of the seemingly endless pit he’d previously been falling through.

He jumped up and looked around. There seemed to only be one way out of the room, so he walked down the hall for a few minutes before finding himself in another dead-end room. On closer investigation, this second room wasn’t exactly a dead-end, if only he had a key to any of the eight doors that lined the walls.

As if by magic, when Kurt turned around he found a teeny little key sitting on a glass table in the centre of the room. When he glanced back at the wall across from the door, he saw that a low curtain had appeared.

“ _Oh_ ,” said Kurt. “I’ve _definitely_ hit my head.”

But he picked up the little key anyway, and pushed aside the curtain, revealing an equally teeny little door. He put the teeny key in the teeny lock, and turned back to the table, where he found (as he’d expected) a little bottle labelled ‘drink me.’

In any other circumstance, Kurt would be rightly sceptical of any so-labelled bottle, but this was probably a dream and _definitely_ Alice-induced, so he wasn’t too worried about following the instructions.

\--

Ethan and Evan had been waiting at the edge of the forest by the clearing with the Doors for at _least_ half an hour before the door actually opened.

By then Rabbit, in all his short, angry glory, had shown up and glared at them and the door a bit.

The door opened and in the doorway stood a tallish boy with dark hair, squinting up at the sky.

“Alice! _”_

The boy jumped. “Who’s there?”

Evan grinned at Ethan. Ethan grinned at Rabbit. Rabbit grumbled.

The twins stepped forward, out of the shade of the trees.

(Rabbit didn’t dare pass the treeline; anywhere with that much open space brought the danger of being spotted, and Rabbit Could Not Be Spotted. It was very important.)

“Hello?” said the boy.

“Hello, Alice,” Evan and Ethan said together.

“Uh, my name is Kurt,” the boy replied.

“Of course,” said Ethan.

“But you’re also Alice, you see,” added Evan.

Kurt frowned. “I don’t, really.”

“If you two would stop being intentionally confusing,” Rabbit said, “we should get going. It isn’t safe to spend long out here.”

Evan rolled his eyes. “Don’t be so paranoid, Rabbit. We’re miles away from _anything_ , especially Heart Palace.”

“There won’t be any Cards ‘round here,” Ethan agreed.

“What are you _talking_ about?” Kurt asked. “Who are you people?”

“I’m Tweedledum, he’s Tweedledee,” says one.

“Probably,” says the other. “Sometimes we’re backwards, and I’m Tweedledee and he’s Tweedledum.”

“Don’t you mean that on backwards days, _you’re_ Tweedledum and _he’s_ Tweedledee?” said Kurt.

“Nope!”

“ _Guys!_ ” snapped Rabbit. “We were talking about _going back to base_?”

“Don’t mind Grouchy-pants over there,” Ethan advised.

“He woke up on the _wrong_ side of the burrow this morning,” explained Evan.

“And every morning.”

“He’s always grumpy, you see.”

“Short and grumbly all the time.”

“Of course he’s always _short_ , Dee. He’s hardly going to get taller if he’s in a good mood.”

“How do you know? He’s _never_ ina good mood!”

“Tweedles!” Rabbit interrupted.

“See?” they said to Kurt.

Rabbit muttered something like “why do I ever let them out into the world?” and “never get anything done” before briefly stepping into the clearing, grabbing Kurt by the forearm, and dragging him back into the trees.

“Come with me,” he said, as if he didn’t still have Kurt’s left arm in a tight grip.

“Where are we going?” asked Kurt. “And you never actually told me who you _are.”_

“Short version: you’re in Wonderland, I’m taking you somewhere safe,” Rabbit said. “I don’t know why the Tweedles are calling you Alice. She’s a local myth; supposedly she was the last Talking Flower – someone from your world, that is – to come here by way of the Rabbit Hole.”

“Don’t be that way, Rabbit,” Evan said.

“We know you believe in her, too,” finished Ethan.

Rabbit rolled his eyes. “Nobody’s sure if she ever even existed, but the persisting story is that –“

“She was real,” Ethan said, grinning.

“ _And_ she’ll come back,” Evan added. “Or a descendent. Or something. Some _one._ To help us. You.”

“I’m not –“

“Sure you are, Alice.”

Kurt poked Rabbit with his free hand. “And you?”

“Me what?”

“Who are you?”

“Oh. Well, I’m  - I’m the White Rabbit.”


	2. The Court at Heart Palace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, many thanks to my darling Katherine!  
> The same goes to Zoe, who is our team artist and knows exactly how to bribe me to continue working when I get frustrated.  
> Go team Zoleykat!

For the last eight years, life for Prince Shane of Hearts, heir presumptive to the throne of Wonderland, had been kind of boring.

Not _entirely_ boring, of course, as Sydney and Spencer hadn’t run off to the rebels yet, but Spencer had his own friends and preferred to stay up north at the Diamond estate with them, and Sydney (who _also_ had her own friends) was a little too _into_ the existing regime for Shane’s taste.

Reed was still around as well, sort of. He had a tendency to disappear for days at a time, then pop back up like nothing had happened.

Shane had his suspicions about where Reed kept going, but he also knew Reed would never admit to it, especially not to him. After what happened with Blaine, Shane would be lucky if Reed ever trusted him again.

Shane sighed, staring dreamily across the room at where Reed was talking to Sydney. _Leave it to Blaine to ruin my potential love life without even being around_.

See, Shane had had his eye on Reed of Clubs ever since they were kids. He was the same age as Shane’s former older brother, Prince Blaine, and when they were younger, Reed had always been closer to Blaine.

Then Blaine disappeared.

Like, _seriously_ disappeared.

Shane was certain he’d run away. He’d been restless for a while, and his politics had always aligned more with the rebels’ than their parents’. They had argued about it the morning before Blaine disappeared. Blaine wanted out; Shane thought they’d be better suited by staying put.

So they fought, loudly and violently, and didn’t speak for the rest of the day. Blaine was gone by morning.

Most people were convinced that Blaine had been kidnapped or killed by the rebels. The maid sent to wake him up had certainly thought so, and had gone screaming it through the palace.

Tacked to Blaine’s door, she’d found a playing card: the Knave of Hearts, with the Flower of the Rebellion scribbled across the face in blue ink with so much force that the pen strokes had ripped through the card in places.

Shane knew better.

He also knew that Blaine had confided in Reed the day before he’d left. Whatever Blaine had told him, Reed had acted differently towards Shane ever since. Then again, sometimes it was hard to tell if that was because of Blaine or just because they were growing up.

“Shane?” Reed asked, thoroughly startling Shane, who hadn’t noticed his approach. “Shane, are you alright?”

“What? Yeah,” replied Shane, “I’m fine.”

“You were watching Sydney and then your eyes sort of glazed over and you’ve been staring at that lamp for like five minutes now,” said Reed, frowning.

Shane blushed. “I was just thinking.”

“Oh!” Reed said brightly, “I’m sorry for interrupting you, then!”

“No, no, it’s okay,” Shane replied quickly. “I’d much rather talk to you than think about –“ He stopped abruptly, sure that mentioning Blaine aloud could only steer the conversation in a direction he didn’t want it to go.

But Reed had noticed, of course. “About what?”

“Uh, dancing. You know, the party coming up and all,” said Shane. “Do you like to dance, Reed?”

“Sure,” replied Reed, “but I’m not really that good. Mostly because it requires a certain amount of grace that I don’t have, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

Shane grinned. “I’m sure we could work around that.”

“I tend to avoid it by not dancing,” Reed said, blushing slightly.

“Well we can’t have that,” said Shane. “Not for the party!”

“And how do you propose to change it?”

“I’ll teach you to dance properly,” Shane suggested. Reed looked hesitant. “Oh, don’t give me that look, it’ll be fun. Come on, we can start now!”

Before Reed had a chance to say more than “What if I have somewhere to be later?” Shane had taken his hands and whisked him away, down to the ballroom on the main floor.

\--

They danced without music for a while, only stumbling occasionally. Every time Reed missed a step, Shane caught him easily and set him back on his feet.

After a while, Shane let go of Reed. “I’ll be right back.”

He ran out of the room, leaving Reed alone in the middle of the floor. A few minutes later, he returned, a servant in tow.

“What’s Grace here for?” Reed asked. He’d been rather enjoying dancing with Shane, and wasn’t sure about adding a girl into the mix.

“She plays piano,” Shane explained, grinning. “Go ahead, Gracey.”

Grace scurried off to the grand piano and sat down.

“I thought some accompaniment might be nice,” said Shane.

“Oh,” Reed said, relieved, “yeah!”

Shane waved to Grace and she started to play. He held a hand out to Reed, and they began to dance again.

Reed wasn’t really paying attention to the time, lost in the music and trying not to step on Shane’s feet.

He didn’t notice how late it was getting until the sun started to set.

As pinkish light started to fill the ballroom, Reed jumped away from Shane.

“Are you alright?” asked Shane, looking concerned.

“Yes, I’m fine,” Reed said, “I just – I lost track of time. I’m supposed to be somewhere pretty soon. In fact, I think I’m late. I have to go.”

“Oh,” said Shane, his face falling.

“Thank you for teaching me,” Reed said. He started to walk away, then paused and turned on his heel. “I – I may need more practice. Before the party, I mean. If you don’t mind.”

Shane lit up again. “Of course! Find me the next time you’re in the palace!”

Reed smiled. “I will.”

He left Shane happily dancing around the room on his own.

As soon as he was out of the palace and into the forest, he transformed and took off for the base.

Reed ran slower as a dormouse than he did as a person (shorter legs), but given that nearly nobody knew he was a ‘Shifter, he was significantly less likely to be caught.

He’d been expected on base hours ago. The new Flower with the nice voice was going to be sharing his room in the complex, and they were supposed to have dinner together this afternoon.

He changed again as he ran through the main doors, nearly tripping the March Hare, but he didn’t even stop to apologise.

He barrelled into his room and knocked the pretty Flower from the graveyard onto the floor mattress.

“I’m so sorry!” he exclaimed. “Are you alright?”

The boy laughed. “I’m fine. It’s good there was a cushion here. You must be Dormouse.”

Reed smiled, offering his hands to help the boy up. “Yep. I’m sorry, I don’t know your name yet; I’ve been out all day.”

“I’m Kurt,” the boy said when he was on his feet. “Do you mind telling me why the bottom bunk’s mattress is on the floor?”

“Oh!” said Reed, “that’s because I sleep on the top bunk, and sometimes I fall off.”

“Why don’t you just sleep on the bottom bunk?” Kurt asked reasonably.

Reed’s eyes widened. “I’d never thought of that before!”

Kurt laughed. “You Wonderlanders are a weird sort, aren’t you?”

“I wouldn’t know,” Reed answered. “It’s your lot that are strange to me.”

Kurt shrugged and together they set to putting the mattress back onto the bedframe.


	3. Cat and Mouse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With this chapter, I introduce the third and final storyline for Wonder! From here on out it's all actual plot (theoretically)!  
> (Except for the Sprouts. They don't come up 'till next time.)  
> A thousand thanks to my darling teammates once again. I love you guys!
> 
> Without further ado, let's meet the Stuart Trio!

Upon entering the room he shared with Eaglet, Rook saw the Cat curled up on his pillow. He rolled his eyes; he knew for a fact that the Cat had a room of his own on the other side of the complex.

And yet _every day_ , he came back to his room and found the Cat already asleep here.

A little bit of him was tempted to nudge the Cat off of his pillow, to wake him up and send him back to his own room.

Rook sighed. No matter what he might say, he never really had the heart to make the Cat leave. He changed into pyjamas and climbed up onto Eaglet’s bed. Best not to fight it, really. Eaglet could deal with the Cat when he got back from patrol.

Rook dozed off, only to be awoken less than an hour later by Eaglet chucking a shoe at him.

“What was that for?” he snapped.

“You’re on my bed,” Eaglet said.

“Gosh, E, I hadn’t even noticed,” replied Rook.

“ _Why_ are you on my bed?” asked Eaglet.

“The Cat was on mine.”

“Oh really?”

Rook leaned over the edge of the bed, looking down at his own. Sure enough, the Cat was gone.  “Well he _was_.”

\--

Julian stretched. The nice thing about not having an actual position within the Rebellion was the general lack of responsibilities.  He was free to float about, popping in and out of the base at his leisure. In exchange for this freedom, though, he’d agreed to keep an eye out for new Otherworlders falling through the Looking Glass.

It meant reporting back to Rabbit personally, which usually wasn’t a particularly enjoyable experience.

Otherwise, though, it was a nice life.

He did have quarters on base, but he rarely used them. Generally he preferred to either catch a _cat_ nap in Logan and Derek’s room or to find a nice shady place in the forest.

Of course, he wasn’t doing that _now_. He’d heard that the twins had found Alice, and he was investigating.

“Where’s your new roomie, Dormouse?” Julian asked.

Reed frowned, glancing up from his sketchbook. “I think he’s meeting with Rabbit.”

Julian winced. “ _Why_?”

“You’ll never believe this,” Reed said, “but I think Rabbit actually _likes_ him. The Twins claim they even saw him smile last week. And you know what’s weirder? I think Kurt likes _Rabbit_.”

“I suppose that’s good for him,” Julian mused. “Maybe getting along with somebody will be good for his disposition.”

Reed laughed. “Maybe it will. I can only imagine what it’ll do for Kurt, though.”

\--

Across base, Kurt and Rabbit sat in a meeting room, chatting.

“Do you ever take that mask off?” Kurt asked.

Rabbit touched the mask, as if he’d forgotten he was wearing it. “Usually when I sleep, I guess.”

“Usually?” repeated Kurt, laughing.

“Sometimes I forget,” Rabbit admitted. “But it hardly matters. I don’t really sleep that much.”

“Why’s that?”

“I’m usually working.”

“And why the mask? Nobody else wears one.”

Rabbit frowned. “I’d be too recognisable. My family – I can’t risk being recognised.”

Kurt rolled his eyes. “Yes, very dramatic. You never leave the base, Bunny. Who even is there to recognise you besides your _allies_?”

“It’s my allies I’m worried about,” said Rabbit.

“Why? They’re your friends, aren’t they?” asked Kurt.

Rabbit frowned some more. “I think so. Sort of. But they really wouldn’t be happy to see me. Maskless me, I mean. Other me? I dunno. It just wouldn’t be good, okay? Trust me.”

“I really don’t understand,” Kurt said.

“You don’t have to,” said Rabbit.

They sat in silence for a while. It was a funny sort of silence, not quite comfortable, but not particularly otherwise either. They just stared in opposite directions, not talking.

“I don’t _get_ you,” Kurt said after a while. “Any of you. Was there _really_ no better way to handle your governmental problems than running away and holing up in a secret base in the forest? And with half of you running around in – in rabbit masks and silly hats, it looks more like a children’s game than an actual, functional rebellion.” Rabbit opened his mouth to object, but Kurt just kept talking. “Don’t get all defensive; I’m just saying that it’s not how things work in the re- the other world.”

Rabbit frowned, but he didn’t contradict him.

\--

There weren’t many shapeshifters on base.

There really weren’t many ‘shifters anywhere.

Nobody was entirely certain what _caused_ the ability to appear, only that whatever magic it was wasn’t common at all.

Nearly everybody knew that Dormouse was a ‘shifter – on base, off base, basically the entire country knew that Reed of Clubs was a ‘shifter.

Julian Larson, on the other hand, officially a resident of Cardhouse in the west of Wonderland, was not so well known as a ‘shifter. In fact, he doubted that anyone knew for certain.

Well, anyone but Reed. He was a special case, though, and for the sake of discussion, he really didn’t count.

Unlike the Knave of Clubs, Julian generally preferred spending time in his non-human form. Well, no, not preferred exactly. But he enjoyed it well enough, and frankly it was a lot easier to move around as a Cat than as an outspoken supporter of the Rebellion.

And he _was_ outspoken.

Had been.

According to the most recent rumours, Dolce Larson’s famously Rebellious son had fled to Neverland to join the Pirates. This claim was, of course, impossible to prove; the pirates were all renamed once they joined the crew, and “Julian” would have disappeared the moment he crossed the border, replaced with something more appropriately piratey, like “Smart-aleck Steve.”

(Previous rumours had suggested that he’d run to Oz, where he had friends and family – his mother being an Ozian transplant – but Julian had thought these stories dull and started the new legend himself. As the Cat, of course.)

Reed thought that Julian’s insistence on adjusting his own legend – and his fascination with other people’s perception of him – was rather silly. Honestly, sometimes Julian didn’t know why he spent time with the boy.

(That isn’t true; he knew exactly why. Reed caught him transforming once, when they were young. They’d been maybe eight, and Julian had sworn the Suitling to secrecy, but he’d gained a playmate more or less against his will anyway. They used to play in the palace gardens together, the Cat and the Dormouse. Reed had introduced Julian to Logan as well, but Julian doubted that Logan remembered it. If he did, he hadn’t ever mentioned it. Anyway, however Julian felt about _that_ decision of Reed’s, once you’ve been friends for that long, it takes a lot to tear a pair apart.)

All of these things crossed Julian’s mind as he floated into Logan and Derek’s room for the second time that day. He could meet Reed’s new roommate later. Right now he was tired – he really hadn’t been sleeping well during his most recent tour of the country – and in all honesty he really didn’t remember where his own quarters were supposed to be.

In Julian’s absence, Logan had relocated to his own bed. That was too bad for Logan, as Julian preferred his bed to Derek’s.

As Logan had, save the one time they met as children, only ever seen Julian as the Cat. As such, Julian had no reservations about curling up on Logan’s chest and falling back to sleep.

He awoke a while later to Logan stroking his fur. “I told Eaglet you’d be back before nightfall. You always sleep for days when you’re just back from a trip. I’m just glad I beat you to my bed. How come you never steal Eaglet’s?”

Julian smiled to himself. “Your pillow is softer.”

Logan jumped in shock, nearly dumping Julian onto the floor. Julian only hung on by digging his claws into Logan’s shirt. “Holy _crap_ , Ches, I thought you were still asleep!”

“I know you did,” said Julian. “You’re never this affectionate when you think I’m awake.”

He hopped off of Logan and walked right out of the room without waiting for a response, thinking that maybe he’d try again to catch Reed’s new roommate for a chat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A note about titles & codenames: Almost every one of the Rebels got to keep their canon Wonderland nickname as their codenames, but for obvious reasons I had to change any who had titles relating to face cards (king/queen/knave, etc). I renamed them, and those names went to the actual nobility.  
> I don't know how clear it is, but the official title held by Reed at Court is the Knave of Clubs. The same goes for anybody else ranked the same as him within his family - Shane, Blaine, the Willis twins, and the Brightman twins. (Of course, Shane and Blaine are also princes, because their parents are the king and queen.)


	4. Of Cabbages and Kings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very Important Notes:   
> 1\. The song that various people sing in this chapter is 'The Walrus and the Carpenter' which is a poem from Through The Looking-Glass. The chapter title is taken from that poem as well. I'm quite fond of it.  
> 2\. Bonus points to anybody who recognises Marcie (and Chelsea)! Don't worry if you don't, though, it's a pretty specific non-Dalton reference. (That said, if you WANT to know who they are, send me a message/leave a comment and I'll gladly tell you.)  
> 3\. As always, a million thanks to Katherine and Zoe. You're both dears and definitely keep me going!

“We need an action plan.”

“We need a _what?”_

“It’s been brought to my attention that for all our talk, we really don’t… do anything.”

“You’ve been talking to Alice, haven’t you?”

“It doesn’t matter who I’ve been talking to, alright? The point is, they were _right_. We haven’t done anything but send Dormouse out and listen to reports in _two years_.”

“Does that mean you’ll actually go within a mile of the palace, then?”

\--

Later, in another place entirely:

Somewhere down the hall, somebody was singing a children’s song. Well, Kurt assumed it was a children’s song. The Wonderlanders worked in truly mystifying ways sometimes, so there was no knowing for sure.

His guess was based roughly probably half-ways on the lyrics ( _oh dear god, did that thought sound Wonderlandian_ ), and half on the fact that the voice drifting through the part-open door sounded like it belonged to a young boy.

“The moon was shining sulkily,” the boy was singing to himself, “because she thought the sun…”

Kurt threw a pillow at his bedroom door, hoping that it would close.

What Kurt had forgotten was that the door opened outward.

It thudded to a stop at precisely the same moment that the singing stopped with an “Ouch!”

Kurt rolled out of bed and ran out into the hallway to investigate the damage. “Are you alright?”

The boy, who Kurt decided was probably about ten, rolled his eyes. “I was just whacked in the face with a _door_.”

“But are you alright?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” the kid admitted.

Kurt frowned. “You don’t sound like a Wonderlander. And you look a little young for a Rebel anyway.”

“That would be because I’m neither,” said the boy.

“So you’re – “ Kurt started, digging through his vocabulary for the right term before settling with the ever simple, “- like me?”

“If by that you mean an Otherworlder, then yeah,” the boy answered. “There are actually a fair few of us, if you know where on to look on base. And before you ask, no, I’m not even the youngest.”

Kurt, who hadn’t really met many people since arriving, let alone other ‘talking flowers,’ had at least three more questions to ask the boy, but at precisely that moment a pretty girl of maybe 15 rounded the corner at the end of the hall, looking murderous.

“Alphonse Smythe,” she said in a dangerously calm voice, “where is Lacey?”

The boy – Alphonse, apparently – glanced around. “Oh crap.”

Alphonse took off, running back in the direction from which he’d come.

“What was that about?”

The girl sighed, running her hands through her hair. “We have too many little-littles around here to not have a system to keep track of them. It’s kind of a rotating buddy system, and sometime in the last hour, Al lost his buddy.”

Kurt nodded. “Oh, I get it. If you need a hand, I’ve always been – well, passable with kids. I’m Kurt, by the way.”

“Marcella,” replied the girl, offering a hand for Kurt to shake. “Or Marcie, if you want. But be careful about that, we’ve got another Marcie on base sometimes. She’s a local, though, so she’s got a codename that she usually uses.”

“Nice to meet you, Marcie,” said Kurt.

Marcella smiled half-heartedly. “I should go chase Al down and make sure he actually finds Lacey. My girlfriend, Chelsea – you’ll see her around, I’m sure – found her earlier, but the littles always escape when you don’t keep a close watch, and Chels has one of her own today.”

“Good luck with that,” Kurt said. “It seems like you’ll need it.”

“No kidding,” said Marcella. She took off down the hall after Al.

Kurt walked back into the bedroom, stunned. He hadn’t realised how many so-called Talking Flowers there were, let alone how young they all seemed to be.

“Perhaps,” he said to the empty room, “they’re young because little kids are more likely to wander off.”

“That’s what I’ve always thought,” another voice replied. Kurt jumped, startled. He spun around, finding Rabbit leaning in the doorway. “Sorry, love. I thought you knew I was here.”

“Yeah, I – I definitely didn’t,” Kurt said, chuckling now that the shock had worn off.

“So, that was your first encounter with the sprouts?”

“Sprouts?”

“Talking Flowers under twelve,” Rabbit clarified. “We have enough that they needed their own term.”

“That’s kind of… sad.”

Rabbit frowned, like he’d never really thought about it. “I suppose it is.”

“How old is the youngest?” Kurt asked.

“Maybe… four?” replied Blaine. “I don’t know for sure. When they show up small, ages and names are mostly guessing. Marcie and Chels usually manage the sprouts, though, not me; they’ve been here since they were sprouts themselves.”

Just then, a very small boy scurried down the hallway.

He was chased by a little girl, who giggled, “I’m gonna get you, Cassie!”

The little girl was followed by a teenage boy, who looked quite frustrated. “Kelly, get back here! Stop encouraging him!”

The teenage boy was pursued by a dark haired girl, who seemed to be caught somewhere between amusement and annoyance. “Just go around at the next hallway and cut them off, Dwight!”

And as soon as they’d come, they were gone.

“What the hell was that?” Kurt asked, stunned.

Rabbit laughed. “ _That_ was what happens when a Flower loses track of his sprouts.”

Kurt smiled. “So, I doubt you wandered this way just to chat about the kiddies. What’s up?”

“We – that is, the council; which is to say the Hatter, the Hare, the Twins, Dormouse, and myself – have decided that the time is right for action,” Rabbit said. “I want you involved.”

“Me?” replied Kurt, pointing at himself as if there was another ‘you’ to whom Rabbit might’ve been referring. “ _Why?_ I’m just a – a Talking Flower.”

“No,” said Rabbit. “You’re Alice.”

\--

_“The time has come,” the Walrus said, “to talk of many things, of ships and shoes and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings, and why the sea is boiling hot, and whether pigs have wings.”_

Shane sang to himself as he wandered through the palace gardens. It was a children’s song, sure, but without question it was his favourite.

“’ _But wait a bit,’ The oysters cried, ‘before we have our chat; for some of us are out of breath and all of us are fat!’”_ another voice replied, carrying on with the next line of the song. It was a familiar voice, bright and half-laughing.

Shane spun around. “Reed!”

Reed was sitting by the side of the fountain, with his Rebellion blue waistcoat half-hidden by a red and black jacket. “Hi, Shane. Long time, no see.”

“No kidding!” said Shane. “It’s been almost two weeks since you were last at Court!”

“Yes, well, there’ve been an awful lot of things going on at – at home,” Reed replied.

“You know, love, you don’t have to lie to me,” said Shane in a quiet voice. “I know where you go when you’re away.”

Reed’s smile faltered. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Just tell me, is – is Blaine okay?” Shane asked. “I _know_ he went running to the Rebels, Reed, just tell me he’s alright.”

“I – I don’t – “ Reed tried, but then he slumped forward, resting his forehead on his hands. “I haven’t seen Blaine in a long, long time.” Shane opened his mouth to interrupt, but Reek kept talking. “It’s him, but he’s _different_ , Shane. People are afraid to talk to him; can you imagine that? Our Blaine, who used to make birthday cards for servants and fairy houses in the palace gardens, has half of the base shaking in their boots at the mere mention of him. He’s – oh _Alice_ , Shane, I don’t know what happened to him.”

Shane awkwardly patted Reed on the back. He couldn’t help feeling guilty, of course _he_ did know what happened.

At a loss for something to say, Shane started to sing again. “ _’No hurry!’ said the Carpenter. They thanked him much for that.”_

Reed giggled.

“Do you want to dance with me again?” Shane blurted.

“At the party?”

“No! Well, yes, then, but no! Now!”

“Right now?”

“Yeah!”

“It’s nice out, I don’t want to go back inside, even to the ballroom.”

“Then we can dance here.”

“Oh yeah?”

“And I’ll sing. While we dance.”

“Not the Walrus and the Carpenter, though,” Reed said with a grin.

“I’m sure I can think of something else,” Shane replied.  
And so they danced, and Shane sang, and for that one shining moment, everything was perfect.

And then it all fell apart.


	5. Beware the Jabberwock

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, many thanks to my darling beta.  
> AND HEY, CHECK OUT OUR DEAR ARTIST'S FIRST ART PIECE: http://tothedaltonboyreadingthis.tumblr.com/post/97569025408/art-for-wonder-all-my-thanks-to-our-author !!!

The Rabbit took a liking to his Alice faster than anyone on base had ever seen him take a liking to anyone.

(This was, in part, because no one on base had ever seen the Rabbit do such a thing. All of his childhood acquaintances included, as they were all quite firmly of the opinion that he was _not_ who he was before.)

Alice had been told this a fair few times, by a fair few people.

It was about time, thought the Caterpillar, that he found out why.

\--

“Uh, hello?” Kurt called. The room was dark, but he was _sure_ he’d found the right one. He had no idea what this place was _before_ it was a rebel base, but the rooms were numbered, like an office building or a school.

In the middle of the forest.

Anyway, Kurt received a note this morning, directing him to this room.

_Alice:_

_Be in room R329 at 1pm sharp this afternoon._

_There are things the Rabbit’s not telling you; things you ought to know._

_\- C_

He had no idea who or what lived here, and the handwriting on the note had been unfamiliar, but he saw no reason not to investigate.

_There are things the Rabbit’s not telling you_.

Kurt frowned. Of course there were things Rabbit didn’t tell him; he was an Otherworlder, not an official member of the Rebellion.

And yet… there weren’t many Otherworlders with their own codenames (to Kurt’s knowledge, there were four: himself, the Knight – a boy named Dwight, and Fishy & Froggy – the two girls who coordinated the Sprouts). Everyone acted like him being Alice was a big deal, and just a few days ago Rabbit had asked him to be part of their planning meetings. He had thought at the time that it was just because he had a different way of thinking than they did, but didn’t all of that make him a part of this, too?

“Hello, Alice,” said a voice from somewhere deep in the room.

There were no windows, and the room wasn’t well lit, so Kurt couldn’t actually see the speaker.

“Hi,” Kurt replied, at a loss for anything better to say.

The room’s resident – presumably the person who summoned him – stepped out of the shadows. He was pale and a bit shorter than Kurt, with bright blueish hair.

“I’m the Caterpillar,” he said. “There’s something you need to see. It’ll be a bit disorienting at first, but do try not to let on that you’re out of place.”

Kurt opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, the Caterpillar had reached out and tapped his forehead with two fingers.

And then everything was different.

He wasn’t in the rebels’ base anymore; the dark, cramped, windowless room had been replaced with a large, bright hallway, with high ceilings and huge windows. There were people everywhere; all dressed in black, red, gold, and white.

It was a stunning change from the shades of blue most often seen around Forest Base.

He tapped a short boy with curly black hair on the shoulder as he passed by. “Hi, I know this is going to sound silly, but where am I?”

The boy studied him, a faintly suspicious half-smile on his face. “Heart Palace, of course. How’d you get this far in without knowing that?”

“It’s… complicated,” said Kurt.

“Did Evan and Ethan put you up to this?” the boy asked. “This is part of one of their pranks, isn’t it?”

“It isn’t,” Kurt replied. “They didn’t. I’ve never even met – what did you say their names were?”

The boy frowned slightly, but then he seemed to come to a decision. He offered a hand to Kurt, smiling brightly. “I’m Blaine. Prince Blaine of Hearts. What’s your name?”

“Kurt.” It took him a minute to process what the boy had just said. “Wait, you’re the Prince?”

Blaine laughed. “Yeah, I am.”

“Wow, I –“

“Oh, shoot,” said Blaine, his eyes on something over Kurt’s left shoulder. He grabbed Kurt’s hand and pulled him into a side hall. “Sorry about that. You’re wearing an awful lot of blue, I didn’t want you to get beheaded.”

“What?”

“One of my dad’s advisors, Mr Wright, was coming down the hall behind you, and you’re dressed like a Rebel,” Blaine explained. “The Lords and Ladies have a very ‘execute first ask questions later’ mentality.”

Kurt glanced down at his clothes. He did look awfully Rebellious, didn’t he? And not in the fun, Otherworldy way. “I stick out like a sore thumb.”

“Well next time don’t forget your jacket,” said Blaine. He shrugged out of the red blazer he was wearing. “Take this. It doesn’t have my family and rank on it, so nobody should notice.”

It turned out that Blaine’s arms were a fair bit shorter than Kurt’s.

“Just, uh, don’t raise your arms too much?” Blaine suggested, suppressing a laugh.

“No kidding,” replied Kurt.

“The suitlings are having tea in the old nursery,” Blaine said. “We can pretend you’re a Diamond cousin or something, they’re in Oz this week so they can’t deny it.”

“I don’t really know if –“

“Come on, I know a short cut,” Blaine continued as if Kurt hadn’t spoken. He grabbed Kurt’s hand and dragged him down the hall.

“Reed! Hey, Reed!” Blaine called as they entered what had clearly once been a playroom for children.

Kurt was startled to find that the boy who turned around was _Dormouse_ , though he looked a few years younger than Kurt had ever seen him, and he was even smaller than when he left yesterday.

“Hi, Blaine. Who’s this?” Reed said.

“This is Kurt of Diamonds,” Blaine introduced. “He’s a distant cousin on the Ozian side.”

Reed crossed the room and offered a hand for Kurt to shake. “I didn’t realise that Sydney and Spencer had any cousins between the ages of six and 30.”

He was studying Kurt suspiciously, and Kurt was getting the impression that Dormouse – Reed – had been involved in the Resistance even then.

This was not a particularly comforting thought.

As he shook Kurt’s hand, Reed whispered, “I know you’re not Suitish and I know you’re not Resistance. Who the hell are you?”

“I think I’m from the future,” Kurt blurted, in a low voice so only Reed could hear him. Reed gave him a covertly murderous look, so Kurt continued frantically, “No, I’m serious. The Caterpillar did something to me. I was at Forest Base and then he touched my face and now I’m here and you’re short.”

Reed frowned. “Why should I believe that?”

“You’re my roommate, in the future,” Kurt told him. “You’ve got a scar on your leg from an accident when you were a kid. Your cousin Willa accidentally knocked you down a flight of stairs and you broke a vase that left a six inch cut across your thigh.”

Reed took a half-step back. “Okay. Well, Kurt of Diamonds,” he said in a louder voice, “it’s nice to meet you.”

Blaine grabbed Kurt’s arm again, then, and pulled him further into the room.

They sat down for tea, and Kurt ended up between Blaine and Reed, and across the table from Blaine’s younger brother Shane. He’d been told they were expecting two more, the twin Knaves of Spades.

“Did you hear about that Otherworlder kid that the Cards picked up?” Blaine asked.

“The 13-year-old?” replied Shane. “Yeah. Do you really think Dad will have him executed?”

“Executed?” repeated Kurt.

“Oh, yeah,” Reed said, “you’ve been living in _Oz._ There’s that whole prophecy about an Otherworlder ‘changing Wonderland forever,’ right? Well the King of Hearts is a little bit –“

“Paranoid,” supplied Blaine.

“Crazy,” amended Shane.

“Are you allowed to talk about him like that?” asked Kurt.

The princes shrugged. “Nope.”

“Anyway,” said Reed, “he’s a little – axe happy, shall we say, when it comes to Otherworlders. Doesn’t want to risk it.”

“But this one’s just a kid,” Shane said. “My age. Dad’s not _that_ crazy. Is he?”

“I think he is,” said Blaine.

“What kind of talk is that for teatime?” someone behind Kurt said loudly.

Kurt twisted in his seat. The Tweedles stood in the doorway, looking as unidentifiably identical as ever.

“Ooh, who’s this?” one of them asked Reed, eyeing Kurt.

“Kurt of Diamonds, he’s a distant cousin of Spencer and Sydney’s,” Reed answered. “He’s just here for tea.”

“Reedy, Reedy, Reedy,” said the second, “is he _yours_?”

“Have you been holding out on us?” added the first.

“He isn’t _mine_ ,” Reed said, rolling his eyes. “If he’s anyone’s, he’s Blaine’s.”

“Blaine!” one twin said.

“Have _you_ been holding out on us?” finished the other.

“Not hardly,” replied Blaine, rolling his eyes. “I only met him a few minutes before you did. Found him wandering the halls like a little lost kitten.”

“I was not!”

\--

Kurt was pulled back to Caterpillar’s rooms just after tea finished.

“What did you think of our crown prince?” the Caterpillar asked.

Kurt frowned. “I’d never even heard of him before.”

“Not altogether surprising,” said the Caterpillar. “He disappeared not very long after that day. The rumours say he was kidnapped – perhaps even killed - by the Rabbit. Rabbit prohibited all talk of the boy on base.”

“Was he?”

“No one knows _that_ but Rabbit.”

They stood in uncomfortable silence for a minute or so.

“Why did you show me that?” Kurt asked.

“Perhaps because I thought you needed to see where Dormouse goes when he’s away,” replied the Caterpillar. “Or perhaps because you needed to know what the young princes were like, so you wouldn’t be poisoned completely by Rabbit’s rather twisted view of the remaining Knave of Hearts. You are to be on the planning council, after all.”

Kurt nodded. “I should probably get going for that, actually.”

“Or perhaps,” the Caterpillar said as Kurt turned to leave, “it was just for fun.”

Kurt looked over his shoulder. “Fun for you? Or for me?”

“That’s for you to decide, isn’t it?”


	6. Girls Run the World

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...and this is where things start to fall apart.

“I don’t understand,” said Kurt, “what, exactly, is going on?”

Everyone who wasn’t on watch or patrol was scrambling about, some scrubbing the mysteriously scorched and stained walls, some carrying around large objects (apparently unsure where to go with them), and some chasing after sprouts with nicer (or just cleaner) clothes to change into.

“The representatives from River Base are arriving later today,” explained the Cat, who’d appeared out of nowhere just next to Kurt’s left shoulder.

“You’ve never seen River Base,” said the Hatter, who Kurt had been asking in the first place, “but Duchess keeps a tighter ship than Rabbit does. They never let chores slip over there.” He shrugged.  The Hare went running by after a young girl in overalls. “If you don’t mind, I have to –“

Kurt nodded, and the Hatter turned and took off after his friend.

“Hatter’s girlfriend is the second in command over at Riverside,” the Cat told Kurt. “She’s coming for the meeting, along with Duchess and Lory.”

“It can’t be fun to be separate all the time,” Kurt commented.

“They’re usually the runners between the two camps,” said the Cat. “Ferrying messages back and forth. They see each other more than you’d think.”

“Oh,” said Kurt. “Good for them.”

“Have you seen Dormouse?” the Cat asked.

“He’s been – away,” replied Kurt. “I haven’t seen him in a few days.”

The Cat nodded. Since he was floating in mid air a few feet off of the ground, this was a full-body motion. “He’s off spying, of course. I should’ve known. The prince’s birthday fast approaches, you know, and our Dormouse and the surviving prince are quite… close.”

“Are they?” Kurt replied, frowning. “He never talks about his trips to the palace with me.”

“He wouldn’t,” said the Cat. “It’s all very hush-hush, you know. A lot of people don’t even know we have a proper spy down there. And anyway, he doesn’t even say the prince’s name around Rabbit if he can avoid it.”

“And you’re saying you know things that he doesn’t tell Rabbit?” Kurt said skeptically.

“Of course I do,” the Cat replied. “I’ve done some spying myself, you know.”

With that, he grinned and disappeared.

\--

“Now,” said Duchess, looking around the conference room, “what’s this I hear about actually doing something?”

Rabbit rubbed the back of his neck. “We’ve been inactive for too long. We have all of the information we need and our numbers are at an all time high. Now is the time to act.”

“And what’s brought this on?” asked Ducky. She sat next to Hatter, holding his hand under the table.

Rabbit stalled. “Well, you see – that is to say, I  -“

“He’s been talking to a _boy_ ,” Hatter said brightly.

“A boy with a fair bit of sense in his head,” added the Hare.

“We always knew it would take some affection,” said the Tweedle labelled ‘Dee.’

“- to get the Rabbit’s head back on straight!” finished the one labelled ‘Dum.’

Rabbit blushed. The young man sitting next to him chuckled and patted his hand.

He rolled his eyes. “The  _boy_ is sitting right here. I’m K- Alice. I’m Alice,” he said. He reached up and patted the large black bow that somebody had clipped onto his hair.

“ _No_ ,” said Lory.

“Yes!” the twins said gleefully.

“Well I’m glad you know what that means, because nobody will tell me,” said Alice, rolling his eyes again.

“Later, love. Later,” said the Rabbit. Alice blushed.

A few people giggled.

“ _Anyway_ ,” Rabbit said, bringing everyone’s attention back to the task at hand, “we have a plan. We’re going to…”

\--

Reed was running faster than he had ever run before.

It took every ounce of concentration he had to keep himself upright and not crashing blindly into trees.

He had snuck away and taken off for Base as fast as his legs could carry him.

He had never been so afraid. So worried.

 _“Rabbit!”_ he shouted as soon as he was within a hundred feet or so of base. “ _Rabbit!_ ”

He tripped over a tree root, falling face first onto the dirt. He scrambled back to his feet and kept running, dully aware of the pain now radiating from somewhere near his ankle.

_Got to get back._

_Got to get back._

_Got to tell Rabbit._

_Got to get back_.

He was dizzy and in pain and terrified, but he couldn’t stop running. He had to get back.

He had to warn the others.

\--

“Did you hear something?” said Lory. She was sitting close to the window, at the far end of the table.

“I don’t think so, no,” said Eaglet.

She shot him a Look. Then she twisted in her seat to look outside. “I could swear I heard something.”

“Maybe someone shouting in the next room over?” suggested Rook.

Lory shook her head. “It sounded like it was coming from – someone’s coming.”

“What?” said Rabbit, launching himself across the table. Or rather, onto the table. He ran over and jumped back down to the floor next to Lory’s seat.

“They’re too far away to really recognise, but I think they’re wearing Suit colours,” Lory said.

“I think – I think that’s Dormouse,” said Eaglet, frowning.

“He isn’t due back for days,” Rabbit replied. “Why would he be –“

The Cat materialised next to the window. “He’s not going to make it. Someone will need to go help him.”

“I’ll go,” Alice said immediately, jumping up. He left the room and turned to run down the hall.

A minute or two later, he appeared outside, running toward Dormouse.

Dormouse stumbled and Alice caught him. With Alice supporting Dormouse, they made their way inside.

By the time they made it back to the conference room, Dormouse had lost consciousness. Alice was carrying him, looking upset.

“He kept repeating ‘they know where we are,’” he said. “’ _They know where we are_.’”

“That can’t mean what I think it means,” Duchess whispered, horrified.

“No,” said Rabbit, “it’s _exactly_ what you think.”

Alice went white. “They know where we are.”


	7. Mad, Mad, Mad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time for things to get a bit mad!  
> Many thanks to Katherine and Zoe, of course, but for this chapter a certain amount of inspiration also came from our dear George. Thanks buddy!
> 
> By the by, the "suitling council" which is mentioned in this chapter was comprised of Spencer, Sydney, Reed, Shane, Blaine, Evan, and Ethan. Their decision was seconded by the Suitling advisors council: Logan, Justin, and Danny. Just in case you were wondering.

The council was in utter uproar.

Most of that uproar came in the form of people repeating, in various volumes and states of panic, Dormouse’s message: They know where we are.

Let’s break that down, shall we?

 _They_ : The Suits and Cards, who have always been the biggest threat to the rebellion against them, for obvious reasons.

 _Know:_ Distressing in itself was the idea that someone had to have _told_ the aforementioned Them the information that they were now aware of.

 _Where_ : An obvious one, though with Dormouse unconscious no one was certain whether it referred to both Forest and River bases or just the Primary.

 _We_ : The Rebels, of course. In question, however, was whether They knew that We included the spy. Again, that would have to wait for Dormouse to regain consciousness for an answer.

 _Are_ : The present tense indicated up-to-date information, which implied a definite knowledge of Forest Base’s location, if nothing else.

In short, that one sentence formed the most distressing news possible for them to receive from their Suitly Spy.

The people we’re fighting now know where we live.

The uproar, Kurt thought, was quite understandable.

While everyone else was losing their heads, he shifted the way he was supporting Dormouse and slipped out of the room.

He laid Dormouse on his bunk in their room and then went to the infirmary to fetch someone who could help patch him up.

He found Charlie (codename Dodo, been around for years, rumoured to have a thing for the Duchess of River Base) frowning slightly, with his ear pressed against the wall the infirmary shared with the conference room.

“Charlie?” Kurt said.

“What’s going on in there?” asked Charlie. “It sounds like everyone’s going mad!”

“They are,” Kurt answered, in as steady a voice as he could manage. “Dormouse just showed up – apparently… apparently the Suits know where we are.”

“Holy _shit_ ,” Charlie replied, running his fingers through his hair.

“Dormouse is why I’m here, actually,” said Kurt. “He hurt himself in the forest; I left him in our room, but he needs somebody to take a look at him.”

\--

Reed groaned as he woke up. Everything hurt; he was bruised everywhere from that fall and there was absolutely definitely something wrong with his ankle.

 _Oh no_. Shane’s birthday party was three days away. After all that time spent learning to dance with Shane, when the party actually came he’d be stuck sitting on the sidelines watching.

“Dormouse?” Kurt’s voice said.

Reed blinked a few times. Kurt came into focus a few feet away.

“Dormouse, how do you feel?”

“Like I fell face first onto the forest floor,” Reed grumbled.

“Understandable,” said Kurt. He brushed a stray curl away from Reed’s eyes. “Do you need anything?”

“I need to leave,” Reed answered, pushing himself up onto his elbows.

“You can’t,” replied Kurt. “You’re injured!”

“I was only supposed to be gone for the night,” said Reed. “With the big news and the party, things are going to be wild back at Court. I’ll be missed.”

“And how do you intend to explain your injuries?”

Reed shrugged. “I’m clumsy. I’m sure people will believe it if I say I tripped over a tree root in the gardens or something. It isn’t even that far off from the truth.”

Kurt frowned. “You really shouldn’t.”

“I have to,” said Reed. “I don’t have a choice. My cover wasn’t blown by the – the other spy, but if I’m not there they’ll start to get suspicious. The Suits are in a very precarious position just now, and it’s been getting worse and worse since Blaine, Evan, and Ethan left a few years ago. The king would have my head offed if he started to think I was a traitor.”

“I think I prefer you with your head on,” Kurt said. “I’ll help you to the edge of the forest, at least.”

Reed consented, at least partially because Kurt wouldn’t let him leave if he didn’t.

They walked together to the edge of the wood, mostly in silence. When they reached the place where the trees thinned, Reed turned to Kurt. “I can make it from here.”

“Try to keep off of that leg, if you can,” Kurt advised.

Reed nodded. “I’ll do my best. Thanks for looking out for me, Alice.”

Kurt smiled.

Reed carried on, knowing that as soon as he cleared the last few trees the Cards would find him. Sure enough, a few minutes later he’d been whisked away into the prince’s rooms (they were closest, okay?) and was being seen to by the Heart family’s physician. Shane was hovering a few feet away, and no matter how many times he was told that Reed was fine (by Reed) or that he needed to go away and stop being such a distraction (by the physician), he stayed at Reed’s side. It was sweet, but the pacing was a bit dizzying.

“You’ll still dance with me at the party, right?” Shane said after the physician left.

Reed tipped his head to one side quizzically. “How do you intend that I do that?”

“We’ll improvise,” said Shane. “C’mon, love, you promised.”

“I don’t know if it’s a good idea, Shane,” replied Reed. Shane frowned. “But I _would_ like to. I just don’t think I can.”

“We’ll make it work!” Shane said, brightening. With that, he scurried away.

Reed was left to make his own (much slower) way out of the room. As soon as he’d reached the hall, Lady Merril – a member of the House of Diamonds by engagement and a long time friend of the family – swooped over and pulled him into a hug.

“Reed! What happened to you?” she asked. She fussed with his jacket and hair while he tried to formulate a response.

“I – I fell. In the gardens,” Reed said. “I went for a walk after Sydney announced the news about the Rebels, and a tree root got me.”

Merril laughed sympathetically. “Oh, sweetie. Are you alright?”

“Merril, I’m twenty-one years old. I think I can handle falling flat on my face,” replied Reed, smiling.

“You know, dear, most people have grown out of that by the time they reach your age.”

Reed shrugged. “I can’t help it. Hey, would you mind helping me to my rooms before Shane appears and starts fretting again?”

Merril laughed again, which (for those who have never heard it) is the most perfect sound anyone in Wonderland has ever heard, as agreed upon by the third to last official Suitling council before Prince Blaine disappeared. “Of course.”

\--

Shane found Reed about ten minutes into the party. He came up to where Reed and Merril’s adopted brother Danny were sitting and flopped into the empty chair on the other side of the table.

“Reed, save me,” he groaned.

Danny chuckled. “It’s only been ten minutes, man.”

“For _you_ ,” said Shane. “I’ve been dragged around and forced to talk to advisors and family members and dress in fancy clothes _all day_.”

Reed patted his hand. “At least the dancing will start soon. That’ll be fun, right? You like dancing, and it’ll be a break from the stiff, distasteful conversations with grown-ups.”

“You’ll dance with me first, right?”

“Shane –“

“Reed. It’s my _birthday_.”

“Yeah, Reed, it’s his birthday!” Danny chimed in.

“Alright,” Reed said eventually. He shot Danny a Look. “But if I hurt myself more and your sister goes all mother hen, I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

Danny nodded, grinning.

Shane pulled Reed onto the dance floor as soon as the music started. The dance was quick, but careful, and Shane made sure to support enough of Reed’s weight that his injury wouldn’t get worse.

Despite the added clumsiness of only having three functioning feet between them, they had fun and danced well. Everyone remarked upon how natural they looked dancing together, how bright and brilliantly they were smiling at each other.

(They whispered behind their hands that the boys looked so in love that it hurt, and wondered whether they’d marry soon or wait for this whole mess with the Rebels to end.)

Reed and Shane heard none of it, of course. They were too caught up in each other and the music.

Eventually, Reed was tired and dizzy, and Shane led him back over to the table where he’d been sitting before. Danny was gone, but another friend of House Diamond – Justin, from Camelot, rumoured to be involved with Sydney of Diamonds – had taken his seat.

“You two looked good,” he said to Reed.

Reed grinned. “Lots of practice.”

“I’ll bet,” said Justin.

“Hey, Justin, do you mind if I borrow your ladyfriend for a dance or two?” asked Shane.

Justin rolled his eyes. “I hope that someday you call her that to her face, so I can watch her rip your head off. And anyway, why are you asking me? If Sydney wants to dance with you, she’ll dance with you; my feelings have nothing to do with it.”

“It’s funny that you knew I was talking about Sydney, Mr Nothing’s-Going-On-Between-Us,” Shane said, chuckling. “I’m taking that as approval, though. I’ll be back in a bit, Reed.” He turned on his heel and took off across the room. “Hey, Sydney!”

All of this – the party, the palace – was like another world, completely separate from the madness back at Forest Base.

It wasn’t, though, not really.

For one single day, the plans to wipe out the rebels were put on hold, but they weren’t forgotten. It was a shadow at the back of everyone’s mind, looming over the celebrations.

It would all end soon, and everyone was wondering: _will it be our way or theirs that wins?_


	8. Could Be Dangerous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to begin with an official apology to Franzi and Ali.  
> Sorry.  
> (But, you know, not sorry enough to change it.)

“Rabbit!”

Chelsea and Marcella - Fishy and Froggy - had cornered Rabbit after the big announcement.

_“The time has come to act_.”

“Rabbit, we want to help,” Marcella said.

“We’ve lived here longer than you have, and we’re a part of this, too,” Chelsea added.

“Girls… I know you want to help, but you’re too young,” Rabbit replied.

“You were fifteen when you showed up here,” countered Marcella.

“Well I didn’t go attacking palaces back then, now did I?” asked Rabbit.

“Only because you’re too chicken to go close,” Chelsea said.

“I’m leading the infiltration team!”

“After _years_ of putting it off.”

“Doesn’t count, Bunny.”

“The fact is, we’re part of the Rebellion. _Let us help_.”

“We don’t care where you put us. Hell, put us in C-group with Dormouse and Dodo if you want to. We just don’t want to be stuck here not knowing, alright?”

Rabbit looked from one determined 16ish-year-old to the other. Then he sighed. “Fine. _Fine._ But you have to stay with the watch group, alright?” he said.

“We will, of course we will!”

“You won’t regret this, Bunny.”

Rabbit frowned. “I sincerely hope that I don’t.”

\--

“Shane! Shane, love, you need to hide.”

“What?”

“It’s happening. Tomorrow. I’ll be – I’ll be with _them_ , so I can’t protect you. Promise me you’ll hide; please, please say you’ll stay out of the way.”

“What do you mean tomorrow?”

“I shouldn’t have woken you before dawn, you’re still half-asleep.”

“No, Reed, wait. Tomorrow, you said. It just seems so soon.”

“Well, yes. Frankly, it’s a gut reaction; nobody wants to die, so we have to strike first.”

“I don’t want to die either.”

“And I don’t want you to. So promise me you’ll hide.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll be with them, like I said.”

“But what if _you_ die?”

“I’ll do my best not to.”

“Stay safe, Reed. For me.”

“You, too.”

“I will, I promise I will.”

\--

“I want you in A Group,” Rabbit said. “Infiltration group, with me.”

“You said no Flowers,” replied Kurt.

“We don’t know when they’ll come after us here, Kurt,” said Rabbit, staring into Kurt’s eyes, his hands on Kurt’s shoulders, like he was trying to communicate more than just words. “I want you to be out there with me.”

“But –“

“ _Kurt_. Alice. I don’t think you understand,” Rabbit said. He glanced around, then pulled Kurt into the nearest room. “This is going to be dangerous for everyone. We’re outnumbered by the Cards… by a lot more than most people have been told. But for me - Kurt, if we fail today, I’m going to die.”

“What –“

“I know you’ve heard about my – my aversion to going too close to the palace,” Rabbit said.  “It isn’t without reason. The Prince of Hearts… he’s tried to kill me before.” He pulled down the neck of his shirt, revealing part of an old scar that ended just above his collarbone. “If we’re captured, he _will_ finish the job.”

“And you want me there _why_ , exactly? To watch you die?” Kurt snapped.

“No,” said Rabbit, frustrated. He started to move his hand towards Kurt, but stopped himself, instead letting it drop to his side. “For motivation.”

“I don’t understand,” Kurt whispered.

“I _like_ you, Kurt,” replied Rabbit. “I like you, and I don’t want to die. And I don’t want to die even more when you’re around.”

“Oh.”

\--

“Rook!”

“What do you want?”

“You and Eaglet are going in, right?”

“Yeah. Eaglet’s leading B Group, and I’m with A.”

“Oh.”

“Now, if you don’t mind, I have a job to – what the _fuck_?”

“Do me a favour, Logan, and don’t die.”

“I’m sorry, I’m a little stuck on the fact that you’re –“

“Not a cat?”

“Yeah, that.”

“Well, something told me that if I did what I’m about to do as the Cat, you wouldn’t really be into it.”

“What are you about to… _oh._ ”

“Right. So. Don’t die.”

“Hold up, Ches! Are we – are we going to talk about that?”

“Sure. Tomorrow. When you’re not dead.”

“But –“

“Tomorrow. And my name is Julian.”

\--

Reed was in a tree.

He was perched rather precariously midway across a branch a third of the way up the tree. On the branch just above him sat Chelsea, while Dodo and Marcella were in the next tree over. Somewhere to the left there was a tree full of River Basers, most of whom Reed didn’t know by name.

“Someone’s coming,” whispered Chelsea.

Reed turned to look so fast that he lost his balance and went tumbling through the branches.

It was probably good for him that the person Chelsea had spotted had a finely honed ‘Reed is falling from something’ reflex, because instead of hitting the hard ground butt-first, Reed found himself caught by warm, strong arms.

“Shane.”

“Reed. Nice of you to drop by,” said the Prince, like childhood friends fell out of trees around him all the time. “Though much as I do love seeing your smiling face –“ Reed, who had been frowning pointedly, groaned. “ – you might want to climb your tree again. After all, we wouldn’t want anybody to see you dressed like that. Could be dangerous. I’ll just walk somewhere else.”

“Shane, put me down.” Once his feet were firmly planted on the ground, Reed snapped, “I told you to _hide_. What in the name of Alice are you doing out here?”

“Trying not to get my head offed, alright? I was sent out to investigate, and I couldn’t well say no, now could I?” Shane replied. “So I’ll go back in now, and tell the Suits there’s nothing to worry about over here. Climb your tree. Your secret’s safe with me.”

“And what about my – well, you?”

“I’ll stay out of the way. I promised, didn’t I?”

Reed glared at him. “You’re here now.”

“Reed.”

“Shane.”

For a long moment, they just stared at each other. Then Shane turned on his heel and started back toward the palace and Reed climbed the tree again.

“That was the prince,” observed Chelsea. “Should I be worried?”

“No,” said Reed. “He won’t sell us out. I trust him.”

“Well for my own sake, I hope your judgement’s good, Mousey,” Chelsea replied.

\--

“- almost certain I saw someone in the trees there,” Sydney told a three Card. “Take Two and investigate.”

“Yes, ma’am,” replied the Card.

“That is not good,” whispered Rabbit.

“Not good at all,” agreed Kurt.

\--

Things were not going well for C Group.

Approximately eighteen minutes after Prince Shane of Hearts left them, they were discovered and attacked.

“SHANE OF HEARTS SOLD US OUT!”

“He didn’t,” said Reed, “he wouldn’t! Somebody else must’ve seen where we are!”

“It doesn’t really matter _who_ told them where we are,” one of the River Basers snapped. “Concentrate on getting – _rid of them!”_

“Chels! Help!”

“Marcie!” Chelsea called. “Marc, where are you?”

She didn’t get a response.

“Marcella! Marcie!”

“Chelsea –“

“Shut _up,_ Dormouse. I don’t care about – I don’t care. I need to help her. _MARCIE!”_


	9. Homecoming

Walking the halls of Heart Palace with Rabbit was strange to say the least.

When they weren’t ducking behind doors and furniture to stay unseen, he kept pointing things out, staring around. Kurt felt out of place, incredibly so. Everyone else in A Group had connections to the palace and the Suits. Kurt only had his connections to them.

Curiously, he clearly wasn’t the most uncomfortable with the whole thing. Tweedledee and Tweedledum looked like they were about to jump out of their skin, and Rook seemed like he was about to be sick.

“The Princes of Hearts had their last fight out there,” Rabbit told Kurt, nodding out a window at a large, empty courtyard. “It was, _reportedly_ , very nearly a fight to the death.”

“Don’t be a drama queen, Bunny,” said Tweedledee.

Tweedledum nodded. “Shane and Blaine were at odds near the end, but they’d never try to _kill_ each other.”

“Would they?” the twins finished together, sounding uncertain.

Rabbit gave them a dark look but didn’t say anything.

Rook had gone white.

“Are you alright?” Kurt asked.

Rook shrugged.

“You look like you’re going to pass out,” commented Kurt. “Maybe you should sit down?”

“Not a good idea,” Rook replied between careful breaths. “I promised somebody I wouldn’t die on this little field trip, and I’d really like to keep that promise. And if we stopped now, _Grumpy-ears_ over there would have my head before his dad even sent the Cards out.”

Kurt eyed Rabbit, who was fixing his mask about eight feet away. “It’s possible you have a point. Just breathe, okay? Tell me if you need a break.”

Rook nodded.

They kept walking, following Rabbit through the maze of corridors and rooms.

\--

It’s possible that leaving Reed alone in a small room on the first level of the palace with Chelsea with instructions to “look after her” was not the best decision that Charlie had ever made.

Actually, it wasn’t even close.

The longer Reed was with the inconsolable teenager, the more worried he became over his own loved one. He really didn’t trust Rabbit not to –

He cut that thought off before it could spiral too far down that track. He patted Chelsea’s shoulder absently.

She took a shuddering breath, pulling her knees tighter to her chest.

“It’ll be okay, Fishy,” Reed said half-heartedly.

“She’s – she’s probably – dead,” Chelsea gasped, glaring up at him. “Don’t – don’t tell me – _anything’s_ okay!”

She had a point, so Reed didn’t try to contradict her.

He was too stressed over Shane to really argue it in any case.

“I have to go,” he said suddenly, jumping to his feet.

Chelsea waved a hand. Reed took this as a silent “don’t worry about me, Dormouse, go make sure your potential boyfriend isn’t dead” and walked away.

He knew this palace better than almost anyone – Shane, who lived here full-time, was an obvious exception – and he knew all of the secret passages.

Unfortunately, so did Julian.

Reed didn’t realise this, however, until the taller boy appeared in front of him. He slammed into Julian, who grabbed him by the shoulders and took a step backwards.

“Reed, where the hell do you think you’re going?”

He tried to wriggle out of Julian’s grip. “I have to – I need to check on Shane. What if Bl-“

“Reed of Clubs, could you _be_ more stupid right now?” Julian snapped. “You have no idea where he is, or where Blaine is, and the upper levels are still under Suit control.” He tugged at Reed’s very, very, very blue waistcoat. “You. Would. Be. Killed. And I’d bet your Prince is just as worried about you.”

Reed froze. “You’re right. Of course, you’re right.”

Julian rested his forehead against Reed’s. “Go back to Fishy. I know she’s losing it, but she needs you. Try to keep your head, and I’ll go look in on your Prince.”

He forced Reed to turn around, and then lightly shoved him back towards the room where Chelsea was waiting.

\--

Rook was almost certain that Rabbit had completely lost it.

It’s one thing to infiltrate your childhood home with the intention of imprisoning-and-or-executing your parents.

(A strange thing, but a thing nonetheless.)

It’s another thing entirely to waltz through the aforementioned childhood home as if nothing has changed and you’re just going up for tea with the king and queen at the same time.

Rabbit had definitely crossed the line into crazy town and Rook wasn’t entirely sure he should follow in his footsteps.

And yet… here he was, walking between the twins down corridors he hadn’t seen since he was sixteen like everything was normal. Like nothing had changed. Sure, they were all a fair bit taller, and Rabbit had an unpleasant-looking scar across his chest, but if Rook really wanted to he could imagine that they were just coming home for a visit.

Not that he’d want to.

Of course, Alice was with them, too. They would have never seen an Otherworlder here in the old days.

He followed Rabbit, only paying enough attention to where he was going that he didn’t walk into any walls. He let his thoughts drift back to base – to Julian.

Rook wasn’t sure how it had never occurred to him that the Cat might be a ‘shifter. There were certain ways of telling, if you knew to look. And he’d considered the Cat – Julian – a close friend. So he should’ve known. Shouldn’t he?

He was almost certain that they’d met once when they were young, now, as well. He had a vague memory of Reed enthusiastically introducing all of them to a playmate of his, a dark haired boy named Julian. The same Julian, Rook was nearly sure, who had slept curled up on Rook’s chest as a Cat just a few weeks ago.

Rook was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of three people shouting one word in near perfect unison.

_“Alice!”_

Before anyone had a chance to react, Alice was gone.


	10. The Hero of Another Story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, I wish y'all could see the comments that Katherine makes on these.

He wasn’t entirely sure what he’d been thinking.

It was hardly the stupidest thing he’d ever done (half-intentionally almost killing Blaine sprung to mind), but it was far, far from the brightest.

“You must be Shane,” the boy said, remarkably calmly.

“I – uh – yeah. Prince Shane of Hearts.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you. Mostly terrible.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.”

“Rabbit’s a bit biased, I’ll admit, but grabbing me and dragging me away from the rebels by force does not do much to prove his stories wrong.”

“Right. Sorry about that. It was – maybe not my best move.”

“Yeah, no.”

“You’re Alice,” Shane observed. “Alice was supposed to be an Otherworlder, like the real Alice, right? But you – I think - have we met before?”

Alice studied him. “Yes. Once. I was sent back in time, if you can believe it.”

Shane nodded. “That makes sense.”

“Does it?”

“Of course it does.”

“My name is Kurt,” Alice blurted after a long moment of silence. “Kurt Hummel. I know your name; you should know mine. I don’t particularly like being called Alice.”

“Kurt,” Shane repeated. “Alright.”

He grabbed Kurt’s sleeve and started to pull him down halls, vaguely in the direction of the throne room, which he knew was Rabbit’s eventual destination. But before he found his way there, he had to find and distract Sydney of Diamonds.

\--

Julian had promised Reed that he’d seek Shane out, so he sought Shane out.

He was a cat of his word, after all.

But the palace was huge, a sprawling labyrinth of halls and rooms, and there were any number of paths to the throne room, which was undoubtedly the Prince of Hearts’s eventual destination. He had his ways of tracking, and he could move faster through the palace than anyone.

Incredibly unhelpfully, from what Julian could tell, Shane wasn’t taking any kind of logical path toward the throne room. It was like he was going through as many rooms on each floor as he could, but that didn’t make sense.

Who wasted time like that in a situation like this?

Struck by sudden inspiration, Julian moved _ahead_ of Shane, placing himself in a hallway he knew the prince would have to pass through to get upstairs, and waited.

It wasn’t too long before Shane appeared, dragging (of all people) _Kurt_ along behind him by the sleeve.

“Well what are you two up to, then?” Julian asked.

“Apparently looking for someone,” said Kurt.

“Mind saying who?”

Kurt shrugged. “He hasn’t said.”

“Sydney, Knave of Diamonds,” said Shane.

Kurt raised his eyebrows. “He hasn’t said a word in half an hour.”

“You probably just weren’t asking the right way, _Alice_ ,” said Julian. Before Kurt could respond, Julian continued, “So, Shane, why are we searching for the Knave?”

“So she doesn’t get my – well, anyone killed,” replied Shane. “She’s basically running the Cards nowadays, and I don’t want her ordering any deaths that oughtn’t to be ordered.”

“You think she’d –“

“Her sense of duty wouldn’t let her do anything less.”

“They’re her friends,” said Julian in a low voice. “They used to be her _friends_.”

Shane shrugged. “And now they aren’t.”

\--

Sydney had locked Spencer in their quarters with Danny.

That lasted approximately ten minutes.

He left her a note so she wouldn’t worry ( _Nice try, Syd, but this is my home too)_ , and took to the halls. He didn’t know exactly what he was looking for, but he was sure he’d know it when he found it.

And find it he did.

Or rather, it found him.

He rounded a corner and before he could process what was in front of him, Shane of Hearts had slammed him against a wall.

“Where’s your sister?”

“What?”

“Where is Sydney?”

“I don’t know,” said Spencer. “I’m looking for her, too. What’s wrong?”

“Reed of Clubs is with the Rebels,” Shane said. “I’m afraid that she’ll –“

“She wouldn’t,” Spencer interrupted.

“She might if she thought it was for the good of Wonderland,” Shane insisted.

“Maybe not Reed,” another voice interjected. Spencer looked over Shane’s shoulder to see that the speaker was a tall boy with dark hair, dressed in blue. “But there are other people here that she’s a little more removed from, and we don’t want them hurt, either.”

“Spencer,” another, more familiar voice said (though, confusingly, it didn’t belong to a face Spencer knew), “Evan and Ethan of Spades are here. _Blaine of Hearts_ is here.”

“Blaine’s _dead_ ,” Spencer said.

“No,” said the first stranger. “He isn’t.”

\--

“But he – why – he disappeared,” Spencer insisted. “Everyone said he was dead.”

“So did he,” said Julian.

“But he isn’t,” continued Spencer, clearly trying to process this piece of information.

“Nope,” Kurt replied.

“And now he’s working with the rebellion?”

“Apparently,” Shane confirmed.

“And my sister – oh sweet Alice, Sydney will kill him.”

“Well, we _were_ hoping to avoid that,” Julian pointed out.

“Right, right. I’ll help you,” Spencer said.

And that was that.

They heard Sydney’s voice before they saw her. When Julian checked around the corner, he saw her talking to a Rebel – one of the scouts for River Base, a fairly new recruit… what was his name?

“She’s talking to a rebel,” he whispered to the others.

“The spy?” asked Kurt.

Shane held up a hand, listening to the voices. “Yeah. That’s Adam, the one who told us where the bases are.”

Julian transformed. “I could gut him.”

Kurt put a calming hand on Julian’s back. “You probably shouldn’t.”

“He betrayed us. Got our people killed,” Julian said. “Why the hell not?”

“Well theoretically it has to do with morals and being a better person,” said Kurt. “But in this moment, it’s mostly because we don’t want to make a scene. And believe me, spilling somebody’s insides all over the floor is the _definition_ of making a scene.”

“I _like_ making scenes,” grumbled Julian.

Spencer rolled his eyes. “I’ll go, shall I? I can keep Syd distracted and away from the throne room. Just don’t make too much of a mess.”

Kurt stifled a laugh as Spencer rounded the corner.

“Spencer?”

“Sydney, what are you doing talking to _this_ idiot?”

“I’m not –“

“Shut up, Clavell. He’s our informant. He’s informing.”

“Anything good?”

“He says there’s a small group of Rebels who are working their way to the throne room as we speak. We should go head them off.”

“Syd, you’re behind the times. Reed of Clubs and Shane of Hearts are dealing with them. Everything’s fine. But _we_ should really head on upstairs and report to the Suits.”

“Well, if the infiltrators are being dealt with –“

“Let’s go.”

Shane, Kurt, and Julian waited until the twins’ footsteps had faded away. Then they rounded the corner themselves.

Adam stood, frozen, just where Sydney had left him.

“Prince Shane?” he said. “But – the Knave said that you and Reed of Clubs were dealing with the infiltration group!”

“Dealing with, working with, it’s all kind of running together,” Shane said casually. “We’ll catch up to Reed soon enough. But before that, _you_ need dealing with. See, Alice here –“ he paused, gesturing to Kurt, “thinks we _shouldn’t_ gut you, citing messiness. The Cat –“ he paused again, this time indicating Julian, “is in favour. Me, I’m on the fence. Don’t want to deal with the mess, don’t want to deal with the blood and such, but I also don’t want to deal with _you_ ever again. Of course, we could always go my father’s preferred method…” He drew a finger across his neck.

“What do you say, traitor?”


	11. King and Court

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dear god, Katherine's commentary... yet again, I do so wish you could see it.  
> ALSO I DID FINISH BEFORE THE END OF THE BIG BANG! Posting was delayed due to real life delays, but TEAM ZOLEYKAT DID THE THING!

Reed knew before he heard the scream.

He didn’t see them come in; he wasn’t with Chelsea when it happened.

But he knew.

Her scream was piercing and nearly unintelligible, but buried in the broken shrieking was one single word.

“ _No!”_

Oh dear sweet Alice, _Marcella._

“Chelsea!” he called. “Chels, where –“

And then he saw them.

Chelsea stood by a wall, pale and looking like she was about to be sick. Next to her was Dwight, who was carrying – _oh, no._

Reed ran over just as Dwight laid Marcella on a nearby couch. He put a hand on Chelsea’s shoulder. Chelsea took a sharp, gasping breath.

“Chelsea,” Reed repeated.

She looked at him. Her usually bright brown eyes looked dull, dead. “I told you, Dormouse. I told you they’d killed her.”

There was no good response for that. Reed pulled Chelsea into a hug, angling his body so that she wouldn’t be able to see Marcella draped across the couch. “Chelsea, I’m so sorry.”

Chelsea shoved him away. “Don’t be sorry, _do something_! Make sure your prince isn’t gone, too. Make them _pay_ , Reed of Clubs, or I will.”

She dropped to her knees next to Marcie, taking another sharp breath. Dwight knelt down next to her,

“How did you –“ Reed started. “When –“

“ _Go_ ,” said Chelsea, glaring up at Reed through teary eyes.

Reed did, feeling a little guilty but glad for the excuse to run off looking for Shane and the others. His conscience was telling him that you aren’t supposed to leave a sobbing 16-year-old alone next to the body of her recently deceased best friend/girlfriend. His brain reminded his conscience that she was in a room with, like, sixty other rebels in various states of disrepair including Dwight and Charlie, and told him it was okay to take off running toward the throne room as fast as his legs would carry him.

\--

After being separated from Alice, Rabbit had picked up speed and urgency.

Evan and Ethan had longer legs than Rabbit, but even they were struggling to keep up. Rook looked ill, but he didn’t let himself fall behind.

This was too important to miss.

\--

Julian kept flickering back and forth between forms. Every few steps as a human, he’d jump back into the air and float along as a cat, then switch right back a minute later.

Shane jumped the tiniest bit every time Julian’s (human) feet hit the ground. He carried on, though, despite the distraction.

Kurt had one hand at the centre of Shane’s back, encouraging him forward (though Shane hardly needed it). Eventually his other hand caught one of Julian’s. “Choose and stay. You’re driving Shane out of his head.”

Julian nodded and shifted one last time, choosing to float along just next to Kurt’s right shoulder.

“Let’s do this.”

\--

Three doors burst open at once.

The main doors, the big double doors at the far end of the room, were thrown open to reveal four young men. The two on the outside were identical, tall, and blond, and hadn’t been seen in these halls in a fair few years. The second from the left was also blond, also tall, and looking nervously at his father, who had dropped his teacup. The second from the right was shorter, dark haired, and wearing a rabbit mask and a wild smile.

The side door had been kicked open by the Prince of Hearts himself, who stood, blood-splattered, between another bloody boy in rebellion blue and an equally dripping-with-blood floating cat.

The door at the back of the room had been knocked off of its hinges by Reed of Clubs.

“Oh thank Alice, _Reed_.”

“Shane!”

“Shane?”

“Alice!”

“Rabbit –“

“ _Julian_.”

“Oh, good, Logan.”

“Julian, don’t –“

“Shane, you kidnapped –“

“Rabbit, no, it’s fine, I’m –“

“Alice, don’t listen to a word he –“

“Sweet Alice, Rabbit, he’s _fine_.”

“ _Dor_ mouse.”

“Blaine!”

And then everyone froze.

Well, the rebels froze. That word was like a trigger, and it set the Suits off.

“What the hell is going on?” shouted the King of Hearts. “Shane, why are you covered in blood?”

Shane looked from Kurt to Julian and then back to his father. He shrugged. “We had a bit of a disagreement with Adam. He seemed to be getting cold feet. He’s been dealt with.”

The king nodded as if this was a perfectly normal conversation topic for a father and son to discuss over tea. “I imagined that that would need doing sometime or other. Do you care to introduce your companions?”

“Oh,” said Shane, glancing at Kurt again, “Well, dad, I don’t know that you want to know who they are yet. Why don’t you ask Reed why he just kicked down a door?”

“That is a very good question,” the Lady of Diamonds said. “Reed?”

“I didn’t want to be late to the party,” Reed answered. “Blaine doesn’t bring friends over often.”

“There is that name again,” said the Lord of Spades.

“Yes, well,” Reed replied, “it does feel appropriate. Calling him what he is. Take the damn mask off, Bunny. We all know it’s you.”

“ _Reed_ ,” Rabbit said in a low, angry voice.

“Blaine,” replied Reed, the word itself an unspoken threat.

“You’re here for a reason, Rabbit, don’t get cold feet now,” said Julian.

_“Children_ ,” said the queen.

“Hardly,” Shane said under his breath.

“We’re here to officially remove you from the throne,” Logan said, stepping forward.

His father laughed. “As if you have the power to do that.”

“Considering that we have control of the palace,” the Tweedle next to Logan said.

“ – and the support of the heirs,” added the one next to Rabbit, after a nod from Shane.

“We think you’ll find we do,” they finished in unison.

Half of the Suits jumped to their feet, but there was no point. All of the exits were blocked by angry former-Suit twenty-somethings.

“I don’t think so,” said Rabbit. He took the mask off, letting it fall to the floor by his left foot. He had grown older, his eyes betrayed a hint of madness that hadn’t been there before, but he was absolutely, unmistakeably -

“Blaine,” said the king.

“Well, hi, Dad. Did you miss me?” replied Rabbit.

“I don’t – where have you been?”

“Where do you think?” Rabbit asked, plucking at his blue jacket. “I’m here to unseat you, on counts of tyranny, unlawful executions, and being a frankly awful father. So we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Either you can go along with Dee and Dum here, nice and quiet-like, down to the dungeons to _await_ execution, or I could decapitate you here and now.”

“Rabbit,” Kurt said warningly. The other Suits were in uproar.

The King went with the twins. The rest of the Suits were easily subdued – such people tend to be when threatened properly.

Kurt grabbed Rabbit by the arm. “Rabbit, you can’t go executing him, especially not – the head-offing thing, you know. It’ll make you look just like him. Just as bad. No one will trust you.”

Rabbit shook Kurt’s hand off. “I’ll do what needs doing.”

“Rabbit,” Kurt repeated. “ _Blaine_ , you have to listen to me.”

“Don’t call me that,” said Rabbit. He turned and walked away.

Across the room, Logan (while pointedly ignoring his father, who was tied in the corner with the other Suits and advisors) approached Julian. “Jules, we need to talk.”

“Now’s not really the time, Lo,” Julian said.

“But you said –“

“Later.”

Shane caught Reed in such an enthusiastic hug that Reed was knocked off his feet.

“I was so worried about you!”

“ _You_ were worried?” repeated Reed. “You wouldn’t stay put, I knew you wouldn’t stay put, and Marcella Knight is _dead_ , and I was scared out of my mind.”

“Who’s Marcella Knight?” Shane asked, frowning.

“A girl – a teenage girl who’s lived on base since she was a toddler. She and her girlfriend got separated and I was _with_ Chelsea and the whole time she was talking about how Marcie was probably dead and all I could think of was ‘what if Shane is, too?’”

Shane kissed Reed gently. “Well I’m alive. And you’re alive.”

“Yeah, yeah we are,” agreed Reed. “It’s probably just sheer dumb luck.”


	12. Alice's Evidence

Blaine grabbed Shane by the back of his shirt and dragged him away from Reed.

“Don’t kill me,” Shane blurted.

“I thought we ought to talk first,” said Blaine, “since trying to kill each other worked so well last time.”

“What –“

Blaine pulled down his collar, revealing the scar from the ugly, awful cut Shane had given him – by _accident_ , damn it! – years ago.

“I didn’t mean to do that, Blaine, honestly,” said Shane.

“Sure you didn’t,” said Blaine. “Considering the rest of that day’s conversation, how could I _ever_ have doubted you?”

“You were being stupid!” Shane said. “You were being stupid and you were going to get yourself and Evan and Ethan killed!”

“So you admit it!”

“Not by _me,_ you moron!” Shane snapped, pulling his am out of Blaine’s grip and shoving him against a wall. “I’ve been _helping_ you, you fucking idiot! I’ve been running interference for your little rebellion for _years_ , or didn’t Reed tell you that Dad put me in charge of tracking down the Otherworlders?”

“You let plenty of Flowers get captured and killed,” Blaine said.

“I couldn’t be completely useless, could I?” said Shane. “After a few years of nearly nobody, Dad had Sydney check in on me. But I tried. I really, really tried. And you’re still acting like a child. For the love of Alice, Blaine, get over your stupid grudge!”

Blaine, shocked, didn’t say anything.

That was a first.

\--

“Julian! Jules!” Logan called.

Julian, who had been talking quietly with Kurt, turned.

“Yeah, Lo?”

“You said we would talk,” said Logan. “Let’s talk.”

Julian hesitated for a moment, glancing at Kurt. Kurt nodded, raising his eyebrows. Julian took a deep breath, and jumped to the floor, landing neatly on human feet and splattering a little bit of blood on the floor.

When Logan didn’t say anything right away, Julian sighed. “This is your conversation, man. You want to talk, talk.”

“You’re a shifter,” Logan said after a long moment.

“Gee, Lo, I hadn’t noticed,” said Julian.

“And you – you _kissed_ me,” continued Logan as if Julian hadn’t interrupted.

“I did,” Julian replied, not quite looking at Logan.

“Was that just a, like, ‘we might die tomorrow’ thing, or…?”

“No.”

Logan ran his hands through his hair. “Okay.”

“Logan, you don’t have to… do anything, alright?” said Julian. “Yeah, I’m in love with you, but we _were_ about to die, and I wanted you to know, just in case. But that doesn’t mean – I mean, you don’t have to – you’re my best friend, Logan. You and Derek. And I can’t lose that. So just forget about it, okay?”

He started to turn around to walk back to Kurt, but Logan caught his sleeve. “Jules, just give me a minute, alright? I’m still trying to wrap my head around the fact that you’re not always a _cat_ and then you throw that at me on top of it…”

“Lo, I said forget about it.”

“I don’t want to.”

\--

“So,” said Kurt. “How do you feel?”

Reed dropped into one of the unnecessarily ornate chairs that the Suits had recently vacated. “Exhausted.”

“Everything’s going to change for you now, isn’t it?” Kurt asked.

“Yeah,” said Reed. “No more pretending. New Wonderland. No more decapitations. I only wish –“

“What?”

“I only wish it hadn’t cost so much.”

Kurt frowned. “Who doesn’t?”

“At least Shane’s alright,” Reed said. He glanced over at the Heart brothers, who appeared to be having a heated discussion. In fact, if it got any more heated it could well be more accurately classified as a proper argument. Maybe even a fight, if Blaine was mad enough. “Well, he is for now. Actually, do you think we should separate them?”

“Nah, let them fight,” said Kurt. “It’ll be good for them to work out their aggression. Rabbit went into this very worked up and didn’t get to punch _anything_.”

Reed chuckled. “Alright, but first sign of serious injury and I’m separating them.”

\--

After, Blaine grabbed Kurt and dragged him into a side room.  
“You were out of line back there.”

“ _I_ was out of line? You were the one about to decapitate his father! Somebody needed to stop you, and I was under the impression that ‘voice of reason’ was kind of my job title!”

“You undermined me in front of everyone – in front of the Suits! – and you used my _name_. You went too far.”

“Who cares what the Suits saw? They’re _disgraced_ now, so no matter what they say some nobody know-nothing Otherworlder said, nobody will care. But you know what they would care about? Their new leader being just as bad as the last!”

“Take that back!”

“I won’t! That’s the path you’re heading down, Blaine, and if you don’t want to be called out for it then you’d better stop walking it!”

\--

Several days later, in another place entirely…

“Dwight?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you have a minute? We need to talk.”

“What’s wrong? Is someone else dying?”

Chelsea crossed the room and carefully sat down on the edge of the bed, where Dwight was sprawled surrounded by several open books. “No,” she said. “It’s not that.”

“Then what, Chels?” asked Dwight.

“Prince Shane showed Rabbit where the Looking-Glass is,” answered Chelsea. “Talking Flowers can finally go home.”

“That’s good,” Dwight said. “But you’re not telling me something.”

“I’m thinking of going.”

“Why? Where would you _go_?” Dwight exclaimed, sitting up and staring Chelsea down. “Chelsea, you’re sixteen and you’ve lived in Wonderland your entire life. You don’t even know your last name!”

“I’ll figure something out. Create a new identity, find somewhere to live,” Chelsea replied, leaning against the wall, “and then I’ll track down Marcie’s family. They deserve to know what happened to her, don’t you think?”

“Of course they do, but –“

“Dwight, I can’t stay here. I just thought you’d like to know, since I heard Rabbit’s going to put you in charge of managing the Otherworlders now the Rebels run the world.”

There was a gentle tap at the door. Dwight and Chelsea looked up, surprised to find that Kurt was the one who’d interrupted their chat.

“I heard shouting. Is everything alright?”

“We’re fine,” Chelsea said, at the same moment that Dwight replied, “She’s being stupid.”

Kurt raised his eyebrows. “Can you two work this out on your own or do you need a mediator?”

This time Dwight said, “We’re fine.” Just as Chelsea answered, “You should probably stay.”

Kurt chuckled and entered the room properly, taking a seat by the desk. “So what exactly is going on here?”

“ _Somebody_ is making plans to run off to another dimension on her own,” Dwight said, in a tone somewhere just more mature than a grumble.

“You _know_ I can’t stay here after everything,” said Chelsea. “I’ll be alright.”

“You’re sixteen!”

“I’m self-sufficient!”

“You _won’t_ be able to live on your own in the Otherworld,” Kurt pointed out.

“I told you so,” said Dwight triumphantly.

“You should live with me instead.”

“What?” asked Dwight and Chelsea in unison.

Kurt shrugged. “Live with me. And then, if you want to come home, they’ll know just where to find you.”

“But – I mean, I thought _you_ would stay,” said Chelsea. “Like, of all people.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, Rabbit’s, like, in love with you,” Chelsea continued. “So I assumed you’d, y’know, want to stick around.”

“If Rabbit’s in love with me, he has a funny way of showing it. No, I’m going home. I haven’t been gone long; my family is probably –“

“Still looking for you,” finished Dwight. “That must be nice.”

“Ours aren’t,” said Chelsea. “Been here too long. So I’m going to find them! Under a different name. Like maybe, uh…”

“Rachel,” Kurt suggested.

“Rachel,” Chelsea repeated. “I like it.”

\--

“I’m going to miss you,” said Reed.

“I’ll miss you, too,” Kurt replied. “Good luck with the new government.”

“Thanks,” Reed said, “we’re gonna need it.”

He patted Kurt on the shoulder and walked back over to where Shane was standing a few feet away. Kurt waved to Shane, who grinned and waved back enthusiastically.

Julian appeared just in front of Kurt. “Nice meeting you, Alice. Take care of yourself in the Otherworld. It’s a strange, strange place.”

Kurt laughed. “I wish you understood how ridiculous it is for you to say that.”

Julian rolled his eyes. Well, actually he just rolled over in mid-air, but Kurt understood the sentiment he was trying to convey. Then he vanished, as quickly as he’d come.

Kurt glanced around for Rabbit. They hadn’t exactly parted on good terms the last time they’d talked, but he’d at least expected Rabbit to show up to say good-bye.

He wasn’t there.

Kurt walked over to the Glass, then turned and waited. He and Chelsea were set to leave together, since their destination was the same.

Chelsea sat on the floor in the far corner of the room, surrounded by children. The littlest one, a toddler called Cassie, was sitting in her lap.

“But you’ll come back, won’t you?” one of the little girls asked.

“Someday, maybe,” replied Chelsea. “But until then, you take good care of Dwight for me, alright? He’ll have a lot of work to do now, and someone ought to remind him to sleep.”

One of the older ones – Alphonse – nodded solemnly.

“Be good,” Chelsea ordered firmly. All of the children nodded some more. Chelsea stood up and handed Cassie over to Al. “Good-bye, Sprouts. It’s been a privilege to know you.”

Her departure was met with a chorus of  “Good-bye, Chelsea!”s from the children. She paused as she passed Dwight.

“Take care of yourself, Fishy.”

“You too, my darling Knight.” She smiled sadly. “I promise I’ll find Alan.”

“I’m sure you will.”

She gave him a quick hug, and then joined Kurt by the mirror.

“You ready to go?” Kurt asked.

Chelsea grinned. “I am if you are.”

He took her hand, and with half a glance over his shoulder, Kurt reached out to touch the Looking-Glass with his free hand.

The last Alice saw of Wonderland was the Rabbit, standing in the doorway and watching him go.

\--

Kurt came to in the cemetery, under the tree that had tripped him up.

For a long moment, he thought the whole mess in Wonderland had been a dream. A hallucination brought on by a head wound.

But then he heard a voice and saw a face that didn’t belong in this world, not if he’d really dreamed all of it up.

Chelsea was sitting on the grass next to him, rubbing her head. “Did it work, then?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This could've been it, you know. It could just end here.
> 
> (an important side-note: Chelsea isn't actually Rachel from Glee, and was never meant to be. She and Marcie are a holdover from the OTHER parent story, Hatter. I just thought it'd be a nice reference, as I needed a new name for C anyway.)


	13. Twelve-and-a-half: Finding Alan

It took a year.

Dwight, bless him, remembered his surname and where he’d grown up, and had shared this information with Chelsea. That wasn’t what held her up. Once she started looking, she found the Dwightless Houston family, and particularly their 15-year-old son, in a week.

No, she spent the first year tracking down _Marcella’s_ family. And that was a hell of a thing.

A hellish hell of a thing.

See, Marcella Knight showed up in Wonderland about six weeks after Chelsea (now Rachel) herself did, when they were roughly two years old. Old enough to talk, to know their own names, but not old enough to really grasp the concept of a surname or place of residence.

So it took months of searching for a family – any family – that had lost a daughter 14-odd years ago, narrowing by age, then by name.

She found them eventually.

(She found her own family, too, but Kurt had not yet managed to coerce her into actually approaching them. It’s a lot harder to say ‘hey I’m your long-presumed-dead former daughter’ than ‘your daughter was my best friend and you should know what happened to her.’)

Marcie’s mom had been tough enough.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with?” Kurt asked.

“I’ll be fine, Al-ice,” replied Chelsea. This was a lie, but she was 17, damn it, and she didn’t need Kurt watching over her shoulder all the time.

“Well I’ll be at the coffee shop on 9th with Mercedes if you need me,” said Kurt.

“Honestly, Kurt, go. I’ll be fine.”

Which was how Chelsea ended up standing nervously in front of the Quinn family’s front door.

“Mrs Quinn, I’m Rachel Knight and I knew your daughter,” she said to herself. “I’m Rachel Knight and I knew your daughter.” She sighed, twisting the end of her braid in her fingers. “Mrs Quinn, my name is Chelsea Knight, and I knew your daughter.”

She rang the doorbell.

\--

“How’s the boyfriend, then?”

“Chandler is _fine_ , thank you,” replied Kurt without looking up from his book.

“That was weirdly passive-aggressive,” Chelsea noticed. She stole a bit of his bagel. “Trouble in paradise?”

“No, that’s why I said things are _alright_ ,” said Kurt.

“Aaaaalrightie then,” said Chelsea. “I’m going to assume that poking _that_ festering wound with a stick is going to get me into trouble and skip right on by. I need to ask you something.”

“What?”

“I need three hundred dollars so that I can fly down to Orlando and meet Dwight’s little brother Alan and I know there’s money in the budget for it but I would’ve felt bad if I just took it so can I?”

“You found him?”

“No,” Chelsea replied, rolling her eyes. “I’m secretly stealing the money and running off to that Disney Planet place we talked about last week.”

Kurt laughed. “I’m glad to hear you’ve tracked him down. You can go ahead and book the flight.”

“Thanks!”

“By the way,” said Kurt, “It’s Disney _World_ , Fishy.”

\--

“Are you Rachel Knight?”

Chelsea spun around. She hadn’t seen the speaker speak, but as soon as she saw the boy she knew. “Alan!”

He sighed, looking relieved. “Yeah. Rachel?”

“Yeah!” Chelsea replied. “Well, okay, actually Chelsea. Your brother knows me as Chelsea.”

“Why’d you say your name was Rachel, huh?”

“Cause that’s my Here name,” said Chelsea, fussing with the end of her braid. “It’s complicated. I’ll tell you about it later. I _can’t_ believe I found you.”

“Tell me everything about Dwight.”

“Well, when I met him, he looked a lot like you do now…”


	14. Epilogue: There and Back again

Two and a half years post-Rebellion, Wonderland was thriving.

Blaine and Shane of Hearts hadn’t killed each other yet, which Reed counted as a big win. They were even (more or less willingly) working together on a new piece of legislation, which they usually avoided, and the planning had yet come to blows even once!

Dwight, the White Knight, had settled into his new job as overseer of all Looking-Glass travel and Talking Flowers quite nicely. He was followed around everywhere by an entourage of Sprouts from before everything went down – every sprout to show up since had been escorted home by Dwight personally. The eldest ones were always reminding Dwight of things (Do your paperwork, check in on the new girl, eat dinner, when was the last time you slept?), the younger ones just trailed after him like ducklings, with the very youngest usually hanging off of him somehow.

Evan and Ethan of Spades had enthusiastically taken up jobs re-forging long-neglected relationships with the people of Neverland.

After a lengthy discussion with the Diamond twins about intentions and goals, Sydney and Spencer had taken positions within the new order as well. After all, it wasn’t the Suits they loved – it was Wonderland.

Reed and Shane were courting officially, though sometimes Reed wondered if Shane actually knew what that meant, given his inclination to whisk Reed away into the gardens completely chaperoneless. Not that Charlie – who usually got roped into chaperoning them – minded the break all that much.

Things were good, more or less. Not perfect, but good. No transition like this could quite be perfect.

It was nice not to have to hide anymore.

But sometimes Reed would look at Blaine, in between the meetings and the speeches and the planning, and see an inexplicable sadness in his eyes. Or, Reed mused after an afternoon of seeing off unfortunate Flowers, perhaps not so inexplicable.

\--

“You know, you could always go talk to him.”

Kurt glanced up from the ancient copy of _Alice_ that he was flipping through. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Rabbit,” said Chelsea. “ _Bla-aine._ You miss him.”

“I have never suggested any such thing,” replied Kurt.

“You have been picking over the White Rabbit’s chapters in _Alice_ for the last three weeks,” Chelsea pointed out. “Honestly, Al, we have a way of contacting them, so _do it_!”

“Blaine and I hardly parted on good terms,” Kurt pointed out.

“And of course the way to handle that is to move back to an alternate plane of existence and ignore each other for three years. That’s very mature of you.”

“You ran away, too, Ray.”

She swatted him. “Not cool, man. My best friend literally died.”

“Sorry.”

“Apology sort of accepted,” said Chelsea. “Hey, speaking of home, Alan’s coming up for the weekend, sorry I didn’t warn you earlier but you would’ve made me clean.”

“Rachel Chelsea Knight, I have been living in Wonderlandian Chaos for nearly four years now. Alan’s _your_ guest. If you don’t want to impress him that is not my problem.”

Chelsea laughed.

\--

“ _Derek!”_

“Wha-at?”

“Dude, come inside!”

“Logan, I’m _busy_.”

“Leave whatever lady friend you’re wooing for like _ten minutes_ and get inside! Julian is back!”

“But it’s Casey!”

“ _Jules_ , Derek!”

“Sorry, C. I’ll be back, I promise.”

Casey laughed. “It’s alright, Derek. Go catch up with your friend. He’s been away quite a while, hasn’t he?”

“Yeah,” said Derek. “He has.” He kissed Casey on the cheek and ran inside.

Julian, who was not a cat but was still curled up on a piece of furniture, grinned lazily at him when he slid into Logan’s rooms.

“How was Oz, man?”

“You know, Ozian,” said Julian, waving a hand. “Mom was dramatic, but that’ll happen. Eight left, right?”

“Oh sweet Alice,” said Logan, “don’t even _say_ that.”

\--

“Soooo,” said Ethan.

“- You’ve been down,” said Evan.

“And we’ve been wondering –“

“- when’s the last time you talked to Alice?”

“Before he left for the Otherworld,” Rabbit answered absently, flipping the page from the proposal Lady Merrill had sent him.

“You ever thought of maybe –“

“- calling him up?”

“No. We didn’t leave off in a good place, and if he wanted to talk to me he’d have contacted me.”

The twins sighed loudly and in perfect, frustrated unison.

“ _You_ have the Looking-Glass,” Evan pointed out.

“And _you_ screwed up anyway,” added Ethan. They shook their heads.

Together, they finished, “Honestly, get over yourself!”

\--

It started out as a normal day.

A really, really, really normal day.

Kurt was making breakfast – it was a Saturday, so he had decided that he might as well make chocolate chip pancakes – and Chelsea was somewhere far off, getting ready for her day exploring with Alan Houston. It was nothing they hadn’t done a hundred times before.

And then the doorbell rang.

“ _Rach! Get the door!”_ Kurt shouted.

“Aw, how come?” Chelsea called back.

“Your boyfriend, your door,” Kurt yelled.

Chelsea ran into the kitchen, sliding a little on sock-clad feet. “ _Dude_. Alan is totally not my boyfriend. Even if I were interested – which, for the record, I am not – Dwight would probably murder me in my sleep.”

“Dwight hasn’t seen you in three years,” Kurt pointed out. “And I’m sure that you are very good to Alan, so he has no reason to murder you.”

“Oh shut up, would you?” Chelsea said.

“Go get the door and I will,” replied Kurt.

Chelsea groaned dramatically, but started toward the door anyway. “Make sure you make enough pancakes to share with Alan too!”

She straightened the neck of the shirt she’d thrown on (inside out, but that’s not important right now), and started to speak before she’d even quite reached the apartment door. “Alan, sweets, you’re like _half an hour_ early. I’m not even –“

She opened the door and her jaw dropped.

“Not Alan,” she said, raising her eyebrows. She stared at their visitor silently for a long, long moment. He stared right back, studying her.

“Chelsea?” he said, surprised.

Chelsea smiled. “Something like that.”  She twisted around to call back toward the kitchen. “Hey, Kurt! _Kuuuuurt!”_

“ _What_?” Kurt called back.

“The door’s for you, Alice!” shouted Chelsea with a mischievous grin. To the visitor, she said, “He’ll be with you in a moment, darling.”

“This had better be quick, the pancakes are going to –“ Kurt said as he stepped into the hall, but he fell silent, his mouth falling open in shock. “Blaine! I mean, Rabbit! I – oh my…”

Chelsea giggled. “I’ll just go mind the pancakes, shall I? I’m sure that the two of you have an awful lot to catch up on.”

Kurt barely noticed, too distracted by staring down the man standing in their front doorway. Well, he barely noticed until she shoved him out of the door to the kitchen so she could get by, hissing, “ _Talk to him,_ ” into his ear.

“Why don’t you come in?” Kurt asked, gesturing to the couches in the living room.

Blaine nodded and walked inside, carefully closing the door behind him, then sat down at the edge of one of the couch cushions.

“So.”

“Hi,” said Kurt.

“Hi,” Blaine replied. “How have you been?”

“Alright. It took a while to convince my dad that I hadn’t been kidnapped after the whole Wonderland thing,” Kurt said. “Not to mention to explain Rachel. Er, Chelsea. How’s Wonderland?”

“Oh, it’s great, everything’s great,” said Blaine. He picked at a loose thread on the bottom edge of his jacket. “Do you remember David? The Mad Hatter?”

“Yeah?”

“He and his girlfriend – that’s Katherine, uh, Ducky from River Base - got married last year,” Blaine said, grinning.

“Oh, Julian told me they were a couple, I remember that,” said Kurt. “That’s good for them!”

“Yeah,” Blaine agreed. “And Reed and Shane are, like, a _thing_ now. Which is really weird, but Reed says that I forfeited my right to object when I ran away from home. Like, if I’m not willing to acknowledge that he’s my brother, I’m not allowed to veto his relationships. Only I _do_ acknowledge him, now.”

“But you still aren’t allowed to veto his relationships,” Kurt said with a laugh. “Blaine, Reed and Shane are both grown adults, they can make their own decisions.”

“Yeah, well, I think we’re living proof that not every decision made by grown adults is a good idea,” Blaine said, sounding just this side of grumpy.

“Are you suggesting that we shouldn’t have been born?”

“That’s not what I meant, you _know_ that’s not what I meant,” said Blaine.

Kurt crossed his arms. “Then what _did_ you mean, hmm?”

“I only mean – we made a mistake. _I_ made a mistake,” Blaine answered, looking nervously at Kurt. “I know I drove you away.”

“I have family here, maybe I just wanted to go _home_ ,” said Kurt, but he knew he betrayed himself by not looking Blaine in the eye.

“You didn’t seem to mind Wonderland until I –“ Blaine said, but he stopped abruptly midsentence. “I’m sorry. I really am.”

“I’m sorry, too. I shouldn’t have shouted. I shouldn’t have just left.”

“No, don’t apologise, please,” said Blaine. “I don’t deserve it, and I needed to hear what you said. I let my anger get the better of me; Heart Palace was never good for me. But I’ve – I’m better about it now. It’s all… better.”

“Better, eh?”

“Words have never exactly been my strong point,” Blaine admitted.

“My, my, I hadn’t noticed,” Kurt said, chuckling. “I suppose I could consider forgiving you.”

“I should certainly hope so,” said Blaine. “Reed accused me of _pining_ last week.”

“I… would be lying if I said that Chelsea hasn’t said the same of me a few times,” Kurt said with half a smile.

“Well then,” said Blaine, “maybe we should –“

“Pancakes are ready!” Chelsea called gleefully. “Come and get ‘em while they’re warm!”

Kurt hadn’t realised how close his face was to Blaine’s until they both jumped backwards suddenly.

“Do you want some breakfast?” Kurt offered.

Blaine shrugged. “Sure, that would be nice.”

So they stood up and walked into the kitchen, taking seats at the table already set with plates of pancakes.

“Four?” Blaine observed.

“I got a text from Alan, he’s almost here. I figured I would set him a place in anticipation,” Chelsea explained. The doorbell rang again. “Ah, see! That’s probably him. I’ll go, shall I?”

She jumped up and ran for the door.

“Who?” asked Blaine.

“Alan Houston. He’s Dwight’s younger brother. She promised Dwight she’d track him down before we left and now they’re, like, best friends,” replied Kurt. “I think she’s hoping to reunite them someday, but we’ve been hesitant about contacting Wonderland.”

“Well Wonderland contacted you first,” said Blaine. “I’m sure Dwight would love to see him again. She can bring him through any time.”

“That’s great,” Kurt said, grinning.

“- And we have pancakes!” Chelsea announced, dragging Alan into the room.

He laughed and took the empty seat across from Blaine – the only one with an untouched plate.

“Hi,” said Blaine. “You’re Alan, then?”

“Yeah,” replied Alan. “Chels told me you’re the White Rabbit. Blaine, right?”

“Yep.”

“How’s Dwight?” Alan asked.

Blaine smiled. “He’s great, really great.”

\--

Alphonse ran down a hall after Cassie, who at five or so years old had a tendency to wander off. “Come on, Cas, I don’t have time for this! It’s nearly lunch and –“

Dwight stepped out from behind a pillar just in time to scoop up the smaller boy. “I was wondering where you two had run off to. Usually you don’t stray very far.”

“Yeah, well, _five-year-old_ ,” Alphonse replied, gesturing to Cassie. “Hey, have you eaten lunch yet?”

“No, have you?”

“No. I’ve been chasing down shortstuff over there for almost an hour. This place is like a freaking _maze_!” Alphonse answered.

Dwight laughed. “Yeah, no kidding. Let’s head down then.”

He started to put Cassie down, but Alphonse shouted, “No no no no no! He’ll just get away again!”

Dwight paused. “Good point.”

He shifted Cassie around and carried him piggyback down to the kitchens.

\--

When everyone was finished eating, Chelsea and Alan cleared the plates and dropped them unceremoniously into the sink.

“We’re going to head out, I think,” said Chelsea.

“What, no trips to Wonderland for you today?” Blaine asked.

Alan shook his head. “My parents would kill me if they found out I spent the weekend in an alternate dimension instead of exploring New York like I said I would. Next time.”

“Tell Dwight we say hi, though,” Chelsea added.

“Alright,” said Kurt. “Have fun. Don’t keep him out too late, okay?”

Alan rolled his eyes. “I’m seventeen, not _seven_.”

“Yeah, okay, go have fun,” Kurt said.

Chelsea kissed him on the cheek. “Later. If you follow him through the Looking-Glass remember to leave a note. If I have to explain that you’re _probably_ in Wonderland but I can’t be _sure_ because Blaine here may have just _abducted_ you to your dad –“

“I get it,” said Kurt. “Have a nice date.”

Chelsea and Alan groaned. “It’s not a date!”

Kurt laughed as they left the apartment.

Blaine looked at him quizzically. “So are they -?”

Kurt shrugged. “Who knows? They’re teenagers, let _them_ figure it out.”

\--

Shane was lying face down on a bench in the palace gardens while Reed sketched. “Do you think Blaine’s plan will work?”

“I hope so,” said Reed. “I liked Kurt. He was fun, and he dressed well.”

Shane chuckled. “That’s very important for friendships, I’m sure.”

“It is!”

“I know it is, love, I know.”

They fell back into their comfortable silence.

“Hey Reed?”

Reed paused, looking up. Shane had pushed himself up onto his elbows and twisted to face him.

“Yeah, Shane?”

Shane rolled off of the bench. “Reed, will you marry me?”

Stunned, Reed didn’t answer right away. In fact, he dropped his sketchbook and pencil instead.

It wasn’t long before he found his voice again, though.

“You know what, Shane?” Reed said, trying his best to look serious. “I think I will.”

Shane’s face split into a wide grin and he launched himself across the grass to kiss Reed.

\--

“I think you should come back to Wonderland,” Blaine blurted.

“I can’t,” replied Kurt. “I can’t, no matter how much I miss everyone or life there. I can’t do that to my family again. Finn said they thought I was dead last time.”

“Not forever,” Blaine said, reaching out to touch Kurt’s hand. “Just for a visit. Just every once in a while.”

“I don’t know,” said Kurt.

“Please,” said Blaine. “When you showed up before, it was like I’d found a piece of myself that I hadn’t even realised was missing. And then a few months later you were just _gone_.”

“Blaine, I –“

“Just think about it, alright?”

\--

“Julian! Julian, for the love of Alice, wake up!”

“ _Whyyyy?”_

“Be _cause_ ,” said Logan, “I have something for you. But you have to come with me, all right? Ideally on two legs.”

Julian stretched, pointedly digging his claws into the pillowcase. “Are you sure that I can’t stay here? You could bring it to me.”

“I don’t think so, Jules,” said Logan. “Come on, up!”

Reluctantly, _very_ reluctantly, Julian shifted into human form and let Logan drag him out of bed.

“Where are we going?” Julian asked sleepily, as Logan led him down halls and through unoccupied rooms.

“It’s a secret.”

“But we’re _going there_ ,” Julian pointed out. “I’ll know soon enough.”

“Exactly,” agreed Logan, “you’ll know soon enough. So be patient.”

“But I don’t want to be patient.”

“That’s too bad.”

Julian really didn’t have to wait very long, though. Soon enough, they were in a large, echoing room, empty but for a piano near the window.

“Sit,” Logan ordered, pushing Julian onto the piano bench.

“Where’s the surprise?” asked Julian, frowning.

“It’s a _moment_ , and you are going to participate, and you are going to _like it_ if it kills me,” Logan said. He sat down next to Julian and started to play.

\--

“I have to go.”

“Stay, please. Just a little longer.”

“This isn’t the last time we’ll see each other.”

“It could be.”

“It won’t.”

They fell silent.

“Alice, come with me. Just for a while. Leave a note, like Chels said, she’ll cover for you. Please.”

“I shouldn’t,” said Kurt.

“But you want to,” Blaine replied.

“Alice help me, I do,” Kurt whispered.

“So come to Wonderland with me. Just for a few days.”

“I have work.”

“Time is different there.”

“Alan’s staying for the weekend, it wouldn’t be responsible.”

“They’re practically grown, Kurt, the kids will be fine.”

“I can’t just run off. That’d be –“

“Mad?”

“Yes.”

Blaine smiled. “You know as well as I do that all the best ideas are.”

Slowly, tentatively, Kurt leaned forward and kissed Blaine.

“Oh, to hell with it,” he said when they separated, “let’s go to Wonderland.”

Blaine jumped up, grabbed Kurt by the hand, and dragged him toward the living room. Kurt only stopped him long enough to scrawl a hasty note ( _“Gone with Blaine, don’t break anything”)_ for Chelsea and stick it to her bedroom door.

Above the (non-functional) fireplace in the living room, there was a large mirror in a gold frame.

Blaine only let go of Kurt’s hand long enough to drag the coffee table in front of the hearth. Then he climbed onto it and held his hand out to Kurt again.

Kurt rolled his eyes, smiling, but took Blaine’s hand.

“They’ll be expecting us,” Blaine said. “I’m right on time for return.”

Through the mirror, Kurt could see shadows of people he recognised – Logan and Julian (sitting on his friend’s head in Cat form), Reed and Shane, Dwight (surrounded by children) – just waiting for them to cross through.

Kurt took a deep breath. “I can’t believe that this is my real life. Alright, let’s go.”

Blaine grinned. Then his fingers brushed the glass.

 

_THE END_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there it is.  
> Thanks, everyone, for reading this!  
> (Especially my Zoleykat teammates. You're the best.)


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